A QPQ Tracker study · Tennessee · 2023–2026
Tennessee: who paid for the data centers and what the state decided
Tennessee allows corporate gifts, and Amazon used them: $773,608 in 337 rows to PACs, caucuses and the leadership of both chambers. xAI, Tesla and SpaceX give no corporate or PAC money to Tennessee state candidates. The Tracker searched for it and found none.
HB 1847 and SB 2128, Public Chapter 961, let data centers of 50 megawatts or more generate their own power without state or local oversight. Gov. Lee signed it on May 7, 2026. The House sponsor and the governor took nothing from the payer set.
The law codified what had already happened in Memphis. The Shelby County Health Department permitted 15 turbines at xAI’s Colossus site in July 2025. The Air Pollution Control Board dismissed the appeal 6-1 in December.
Who paid
Each company's direct giving from its treasury and employee PAC, as filed in Tennessee. Executives' personal cheques, super PAC spending and lobbying are different kinds of money and are not added here.
| Payer | Class | Direct giving in Tennessee | Filings (every state the payer files in) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | Hyperscaler | $773,608 | |
| Hyperscaler | $29,500 | ||
| Tesla | Hyperscaler | $240 | Filings and recipients → |
Who took it
The Tennessee officeholders and candidates who received the most from the payer set, and what each did on the state's data center measures: the votes they cast, the bills they authored, the orders they signed. A yea is a vote for the measure as titled.
No recorded vote or action on a tracked measure.
No recorded vote or action on a tracked measure.
No recorded vote or action on a tracked measure.
No recorded vote or action on a tracked measure.
No recorded vote or action on a tracked measure.
No recorded vote or action on a tracked measure.
No recorded vote or action on a tracked measure.
No recorded vote or action on a tracked measure.
1 action on a measure
- advocated forHB 1847 / SB 2128: data centers of 50 MW or more pay for their own electrical infrastructure; independent p…Enacted
No recorded vote or action on a tracked measure.
No recorded vote or action on a tracked measure.
No recorded vote or action on a tracked measure.
The 12 largest recipients of any kind, committees included
| # | Recipient | Kind | From the payer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A BETTER NASHVILLE PAC | PAC or committee | $60,000 |
| 2 | TENNESSEE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY PAC | PAC or committee | $35,000 |
| 3 | NASHVILLE BUSINESS COALITION | PAC or committee | $30,000 |
| 4 | CAM PAC (Tennessee) | PAC or committee | $30,000 |
| 5 | MCPAC | PAC or committee | $27,500 |
| 6 | SENATE REPUBLICAN CAUCUS (Tennessee) | PAC or committee | $25,000 |
| 7 | HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAUCUS | PAC or committee | $23,000 |
| 8 | PB PAC | PAC or committee | $21,500 |
| 9 | Jeff Yarbro | person | $19,000 |
| 10 | Bo Watson | person | $15,500 |
| 11 | Randy McNally | person | $15,000 |
| 12 | Jack Johnson | person | $13,000 |
What they decided
Every Tennessee bill, regulator's order, executive action and election the study tracks, with its result, its recorded vote and the people and companies on the record for it. Each links to the official document.
Tennessee3 measures
- BillEnactedMay 18, 2026Ed Butler advocated for; Brent Taylor (Tennessee) advocated for; Paul Bailey (Tennessee) advocated for; Bill Lee (Tennessee) shaped
- Regulator's orderDismissedDec 15, 2025
- Regulator's orderEnactedJul 2, 2025
How to read this page
The money is corporate-treasury and employee-PAC giving reported in Tennessee’s own filing system, the Registry of Election Finance, from January 2023 to the latest filing loaded (352 contributions, June 2023 to October 2026). Transfers between a politician’s own committees, conduit memo lines and gifts from the opposing side are left out. Executives’ personal cheques, super PAC spending, 527 transfers and lobbying are different kinds of money. The report keeps them apart, and the written part of this page names them as such. Nothing on this page adds across kinds.
The votes are the legislature’s own roll calls, loaded for the members the study follows. A yea is a vote for the measure as titled. The measures are the bills, commission orders, executive actions and elections the study identified; each links to its official record.
Every payer total was reconciled against the payer’s own reports where the state publishes them. The checks are in the report’s verification log. Figures on this page were last recomputed on October 31, 2026. Correlation is not proof of causation; the record shows what was paid and what was decided.