A sheet of paper between us.
The survey strings are tied to Rev. Tom Garner's back fence. He told the Commission the developer is like a man who built a house who does not know who will live in it, and closed with two words: don't give up.
Alabama needs data center construction moratorium
The Lowndes Signal (Opinion)
In an op-ed, Lt. Governor candidate Phillip Ensler calls for a statewide moratorium on data center construction, arguing approvals are moving with alarming speed and without transparency or opportunity for public input. He writes that citizens should be able to vote on whether they want a data center in their community, citing risks to utility bills, clean water, farming, and livestock.
Why it mattersA statewide candidate is now echoing the coalition's core demand: a pause until affected communities can weigh in. The Lowndes fight has become an Alabama campaign issue.
Cloverleaf to hold community open house for Lowndes County data center project
The Lowndes Signal
Cloverleaf Infrastructure will host a come-and-go community open house at Hayneville Middle School on Wednesday, June 3, 2026, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. CT. Cloverleaf staff and subject-matter experts will be stationed at informational tables on water, energy, noise, lighting, and economic impact. The event has no formal presentation; refreshments will be provided.
Why it mattersThis is the public meeting residents have asked for, but it is structured as a drop-in with no formal presentation and no on-the-record Q&A. Show up with written questions: name the operator-tenant, gallons per day on paper, and ratepayer protection at the PSC.
They have not named the tenant.
Lowndes is being asked to grant a 30-year tax break to a company that has not been named. Cloverleaf is not the operator. They are flipping the site.
Citizens, commissioners debate data center development
The Lowndes Signal
Another standing-room-only crowd packed the May 26 Commission meeting, delaying the start by more than 20 minutes. Four residents spoke against Project Red Clay, citing SABIC chemical emissions, the site's location one mile from Gardner's Farm Campsite on the civil rights trail, and strain on infrastructure serving roughly 215 homes within two miles. Ann Faulkner asked Chairman King to recuse over his LCEDC role. King pledged to oppose any 30-year abatement, then voted against Vice-Chairman Farrior's motion to deny abatements; Harris and Hayes abstained.
Why it mattersThe local paper of record documents the second packed meeting, the recusal demand on Chairman King, and the on-record contradiction: King said he would not support a 30-year abatement, then voted to keep the developer's path open.
The body recruiting Project Red Clay sells board seats for $2,500.
$2,500 a year buys a voting seat on the body recruiting Project Red Clay. Its President sits on the Pintlala Water board that would supply the data center. No written conflict-of-interest policy.
In their own words: Cloverleaf says they won't develop where they're unwelcome. Here's what they're doing in Lowndes.
Cloverleaf wrote down, in a Michigan FOIA email, exactly when they walk away from a data center: "ten times out of ten" if it is unwelcome or does not match existing land use. Lowndes fails both halves.
One mile from a Civil Rights Trail campsite, they want to build a data center.
One mile from a campsite on the Historic Selma to Montgomery Civil Rights Trail. 800 yards from a 54-home neighborhood. That is where Cloverleaf wants to build a 5M sq ft data center.
Mayor of Lowndesboro formally opposes Project Red Clay
Town of Lowndesboro
On official Town of Lowndesboro letterhead, Mayor Edward S. McCurdy, Jr. writes on behalf of himself, the Town Council, and the citizens of Lowndesboro to formally oppose the proposed 800-acre data center at U.S. 80 and Alabama 21, and respectfully urges the Lowndes County Commission to deny approval. The letter is addressed to Commissioner Robert Harris (District 1) and cc'd to Chairman King, Vice Chairman Farrior, Commissioner Hayes, and Commissioner Barganier.
Why it mattersThis is the first formal opposition from a sitting municipal government inside Lowndes County. The mayor grounds the opposition in Lowndesboro's 1973 National Register listing, the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail, the Robert Gardner Farm Campsite, the Burkeville Okra Festival, and the agricultural and recreational character of the Black Belt. Every commissioner now has it in writing, signed, on town letterhead.
Lowndes County leaders, residents continue debate over proposed Project Red Clay data center
WSFA 12 News
Commission Chairman Charlie King Jr. tells WSFA the project 'could create opportunities many residents need.'
Why it mattersThe Chairman is on the record in support of the project. Recusal pressure has a quote to point to.
Residents pack Lowndes County meeting over proposed data center
WSFA 12 News
The April 28 town hall at the Charles Smith Building filled the room and forced residents to stand outside. WSFA documents the scale of organized opposition.
Why it mattersTV coverage of standing-room-only attendance changes the political calculus before the abatement vote.
'Living in Hell': Data Center Neighbors Grapple With Noise, Air Pollution
U.S. News & World Report
First-person reporting from residents downwind of hyperscale data centers in Northern Virginia and Michigan describes headaches, vertigo, sleep disturbance, hypertension, and ear pain.
Why it mattersCloverleaf says the campus will 'sit there quietly.' The people who already live next to one of these campuses say otherwise.
Cloverleaf emphasizes data center benefits amid community concerns
The Lowndes Signal
Cloverleaf executives describe a closed-loop cooling system, project the facility will 'sit there quietly,' and assert no impact on current ratepayers. Commissioner Dickson Farrior's anti-abatement motion failed after Commissioner Robert Harris moved to defer.
Why it mattersThe Cloverleaf pitch is on the record alongside the procedural maneuver that killed the anti-abatement motion — both sides of the same paragraph.
Opposition mounts against proposed data center
The Lowndes Signal
Judge Adrian Johnson, a 23-year resident, describes a 5-million-square-foot facility roughly three times the power consumption of the entire county and points to Meta's Hope Hull data center 12 miles away as Montgomery's single largest water user.
Why it mattersThree of the campaign's central facts on water and power scale appear in the local paper of record, in the words of a resident.
An 800-acre data center is being quietly pushed in Lowndes County. Its neighbors are just finding out.
Yellowhammer News
Grayson Everett reports an 800-plus-acre site being positioned for an unnamed data center tenant, with Cloverleaf in talks with local officials and residents organizing in response.
Why it mattersConfirms the core structural problem in the public record: Lowndes is being asked to evaluate a project before knowing the eventual operator.
California Agency Urged to Protect Public Health, Environment From Data Center Diesel Generators
Center for Biological Diversity
Diesel backup generators at hyperscale data centers emit 200 to 600 times more nitrogen oxides than equivalent natural-gas plants. During grid outages, a single facility can release a full year of permitted emissions in days.
Why it mattersLowndes is downwind of any campus built at U.S. 80 and AL 21. Backup-power emissions are not theoretical.
CACF president discusses data center partnership
The Lowndes Signal
Cloverleaf's $10 million community-benefits pledge is structured as $1 million up front, $4 million after the Energy Services Agreement and PSC approval, and $5 million over five years post-construction-start.
Why it mattersMost of the headline-grabbing $10 million is contingent on milestones Cloverleaf controls. If the project never breaks ground, neither does the money.
Stakeholders consider potential data center project
The Lowndes Signal
The first Lowndes Signal briefing on the project frames it as a $1.5 billion investment and projects $75 million per year in net tax revenue, citing utility assurances that current ratepayers will not be impacted.
Why it mattersThe original framing — pre-organizing — that the rest of the coverage has had to revise as facts surfaced.
Lowndes County citizens push back on potential data centers during town hall
WTXL
WTXL covers the early organizing meetings and frames the Lowndes pushback in the context of more than 140 active opposition groups across 24 states.
Why it mattersLowndes is not isolated. It is one of about 200 communities pushing back at the same time.
Cloverleaf Infrastructure secures $300m for clean energy data center campuses
DataCenterDynamics
Cloverleaf's funding announcement confirms NGP Energy Capital and Sandbrook Capital as the private-equity backers and names Brian Janous, David Berry, and Jonathan Abebe as founders.
Why it mattersThe capital structure makes Cloverleaf's incentives explicit: assemble sites and flip them. The $300M is invested behind a flip, not behind operating a data center.
Cloudy Data, Costly Deals: How Poorly States Disclose Data Center Subsidies
Good Jobs First
No state in the U.S. reports both jobs promised and jobs actually created at subsidized data centers. Illinois averages $1.4 million in public subsidy per data-center job. Georgia, Virginia, and Texas each lose over $1 billion per year to data-center tax breaks.
Why it mattersThe 'jobs and tax revenue' frame breaks the second you ask for accountability data. Lowndes deserves better than a promise no other state has been able to verify.
Virginia regulators approve new rate class for data centers — and an $11/month increase for residential customers
Inside Climate News
The Virginia State Corporation Commission approves a new electricity rate class for large-load customers above 25 MW, effective 2027. Typical Dominion residential customers face $11.24/month more in 2026 driven by data-center load. PJM capacity-market clearing prices rose 833 percent for 2025-2026.
Why it mattersNorthern Virginia's path is the precedent Alabama Power has not committed to avoid. 'No impact on current ratepayers' is the same promise Dominion made.