ThinkTennessee

The Metro Arts Commission voted 5-4 to permanently appoint Ashley Bachelder as director. Other major news included the arrest of an East High School student who was found with a loaded, stolen handgun. Separately, four people at Ascension Saint Thomas Midtown suffered serious medical complications after receiving potassium instead of bupivacaine anesthetic, leading to an investigation by TBI.

Tennessee's lottery-funded scholarship programs face projected revenue shortfalls through 2030, with a potential $344 million gap due to declining lottery proceeds and increased scholarship spending. The decline is linked to sports wagering and redirected sports gambling funds to K-12 schools after a 2025 private school voucher program deal.

Tennessee is experiencing significant data center growth, including xAI's 'Colossus' supercomputer in Memphis, but faces rising energy costs and community opposition due to environmental and grid concerns. ThinkTennessee reports conflicting electricity bill impacts and varying data center counts between industry trackers.

A report by ThinkTennessee finds that data center growth in Tennessee has significantly increased electricity usage, causing residential power bills to rise 3.2% in areas with data centers compared to a 1.3% statewide average. The report highlights uneven bill increases and potential grid strain as data centers concentrate in Memphis, Nashville, and Knoxville.

A new report from ThinkTennessee highlights a sevenfold increase in data center electricity consumption in the Tennessee Valley region between 2020 and 2025, leading to rising residential electricity costs and grid reliability concerns. Tennessee now accounts for 16.7% of active data center construction in emerging markets, with households bearing the largest cost increases. Public opposition to data center development in Nashville has led to stricter local regulations.