The Williamson County Regional Planning Commission will take up data center zoning for the first time at its Thursday, Nov. 12 meeting, according to the commission's agenda.

Item 40, listed under "Other Business," reads: "Discussion Related to Zoning Framework for Data Centers." The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. at the Williamson County Administrative Complex.

The agenda does not include a staff report or draft ordinance language for the item. What prompted the discussion, whether a specific developer inquiry, a county commission directive, or the broader statewide debate, is not stated in the public documents.

Public comment is permitted on agenda items. Residents must sign in before the meeting begins.

A statewide push for rules

The discussion comes as Tennessee communities wrestle with data center growth. Nine cities and counties across the state have passed temporary construction moratoriums since fall 2025, WPLN reported in June. Rural communities including Coffee County, McMinnville, Cedar Hill, Washington County, Grundy County, Johnson City, Jonesborough and Bristol have all enacted moratoriums of one to two years, according to WPLN.

Nashville's Metro Council approved the city's first data center regulations on July 21, passing two zoning bills and a temporary construction moratorium, WSMV reported. Nashville's zoning legislation bans data centers larger than 500,000 square feet, requires smaller facilities to go through a special-exception process and public hearing, and limits projects to heavy industrial zones. Data centers would not be allowed within half a mile of schools, homes and parks.

Why it matters locally

Middle Tennessee Electric Membership Corporation, which serves Williamson County, is one of the largest electric cooperatives in the nation, according to Electric Choice. The cooperative purchases its power from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).

Large data centers capable of supporting artificial intelligence can consume upward of 100 megawatts of power, enough to support 80,000 U.S. households, according to a Congressional report cited by Tennessee Lookout. A facility that size could also consume as much water as 2,600 households, according to an International Energy Agency estimate cited in the same report.

Tennessee lawmakers passed one data center bill this legislative session out of seven introduced. That law, SB2128, requires data center owners to cover the cost of any infrastructure upgrades needed to support their facilities and prohibits utilities from passing those costs to ratepayers, according to Tennessee Lookout. The bill also allows data centers requiring at least 50 megawatts to generate their own power or buy it from independent producers without state or local oversight.

Rep. Ed Butler, a Rickman Republican and the bill's House sponsor, told fellow lawmakers during the session: "We want to have data centers, but we want to put guardrails around that to protect our ratepayers."

Trey Bussey, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, told Tennessee Lookout the bill would not provide "meaningful protections" from higher rates or environmental concerns because of exceptions added before passage.

Other agenda items

The Nov. 12 agenda also includes a bond update for Terravista roads, drainage and erosion control, and final plat reviews for several subdivisions. Among them: Ember Ridge Subdivision, also known as The Villages at Triune West, with 54 lots on 18.40 acres off Murfreesboro Road, and Tributary Subdivision, Section 1, with 39 lots on 89.63 acres off Cox Road. The commission will also set its 2027 meeting schedule.

Residents who want to speak on any agenda item can sign in before the meeting at the Williamson County Administrative Complex on Thursday, Nov. 12 at 5:30 p.m.