GREENVILLE, Miss.–The location of two data centers in Madison County will have side benefits, said Gov. Tate Reeves in his Wednesday announcement about the project. One of those benefits is a new power plant planned by Entergy for Greenville, and another project in Tallahatchie County.
But, the jobs created may only be temporary.
Both chambers of the state legislature debated and passed all bills related to the project in a special session Thursday. It was during that debate that state Rep. Robert Johnson, a Democrat who represents Adams County, brought up the argument that counties “west of 55” are often left out of big economic projects.
“There will be no jobs west of I-55. Entergy has confirmed that those jobs, there will be zero new jobs associated with the power plant,” said Johnson. “The only jobs of any significance will be temporary construction jobs.”
Johnson said repeatedly that Entergy had confirmed that to him, but that was refuted by Angela Cockerham, a state representative from Amite County, who serves as chair of the Energy Committee.
“You’re classifying it as whether it will be permanent or temporary,” she said. “There are going to be jobs in these three counties for power generation.”
Her argument was that the jobs are valuable, whether they are temporary or not.
The project is the largest such project in state history and the second to be considered and passed this legislative session. Amazon Web Services is the company behind the two centers that will be located in Canton and just north of Jackson.
