News and updates
What changed,
and when.
Our own dispatches and the outside reporting worth your time. Everything dated, everything sourced.
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At tonight’s Commission meeting, Protect Lowndes County announced it is working alongside the Alabama Rivers Alliance. The Southern Environmental Law Center and the Natural Resources Defense Council filed a public-records request on both organizations’ behalf the same day, with a legal deadline attached.
Read the dispatch →Candidates in Alabama’s governor’s race discuss data centers in the state
Data centers, including Project Red Clay by name, became a topic in statewide campaign coverage, with candidates offering differing views on how the state should treat large-load projects.
Read at WSFA 12 →Mystery data center could receive 30-year tax break beside sacred Selma march ground
As of publication, no tax-abatement request had been filed and no operator named, while the project continued. Chairman Charlie King Jr. is quoted saying the power bill will not go up, and a Lowndesboro resident with 30 years of data-center experience warned commissioners of continuous fan noise known as acoustic roar.
Read at Yellowhammer News →PSC candidate calls for protections when reviewing data center contracts
Sheila McNeil, a candidate for Public Service Commission Place 2, filed formal comments in Docket 33709 arguing large-load customers should fund their own grid infrastructure and calling for public hearings in affected communities.
Read at Alabama Political Reporter →What the record shows, and what it still does not
A plain accounting of what is established about Project Red Clay, what is contested, and what remains undisclosed as of mid-July.
Read the dispatch →Alabama PSC opens review of data center power contracts, sets August comment deadlines
Public comments in Docket 33709 are due August 6 and replies August 21. The proceeding reviews cost recovery only; reporting confirms it does not cover siting or environmental review for any specific project.
Read at mynbc15 →The state opened a docket. Your letter belongs in it.
On July 7 the Alabama Public Service Commission opened a generic proceeding reviewing Alabama Power’s large-load data-center contracts. It is open for public comment.
Read the dispatch →The company already wrote down its own standard
An email released under Michigan’s open-records law states when Cloverleaf will not proceed. Lowndes County is entitled to the same standard.
Read the dispatch →Rural Alabama Community Opposes Hyperscale Data Center
The first major national reporting on Project Red Clay, including the company plan describing roughly 3.01 million square feet and the company’s statement that final power and water demand had not been determined.
Read at Inside Climate News →Commission hears more data center opposition
A resident told the Commission that Cloverleaf representatives gave conflicting answers on the identity of the eventual long-term tenant.
Read at The Lowndes Signal →Cloverleaf, residents meet at open house
CEO David Berry, Chief Development Officer Aaron Bilyeu, and Development Principal Michael Evans attended the June 3 open house at Hayneville Middle School, while a peaceful protest was held outside a law-enforcement perimeter.
Read at The Lowndes Signal →Cloverleaf responds to Lowndes County data center concerns after weeks of resident pushback
The company’s first on-record response: a closed-loop cooling claim of up to 100,000 gallons per day as a one-time fill, and a facility said to typically run under 60 decibels at the property line.
Read at WSFA 12 →Cloverleaf emphasizes data center benefits amid community concerns
Chief Development Officer Aaron Bilyeu described the facility as quiet and low-traffic and put the permanent job count at roughly 50, most requiring only trade-school training.
Read at The Lowndes Signal →Commission resists transparency amid growing data center opposition
Residents asked Commission President Thomas Ellis, who also sits on the Pintlala Water Authority board, and Vice President Charlie King Jr. to recuse from votes on the project. The county economic development commission has no written conflict-of-interest policy.
Read at The Lowndes Signal →Cloverleaf to hold community open house for Lowndes County data center project
Advance notice of the June 3 come-and-go open house at Hayneville Middle School, with staff at informational tables on water, energy, noise, lighting, and economic impact.
Read at The Lowndes Signal →More than 1,000 sign petition opposing proposed Lowndes County data center as debate intensifies
A petition opposing the project surpassed 1,000 signatures, more than 10 percent of the county’s population, tying the opposition explicitly to the Selma-to-Montgomery Trail’s proximity.
Read at WSFA 12 →Stakeholders consider potential data center project
Coverage of the May 26 Commission meeting, including the $1.5 billion investment claim and the $75 million projected annual tax revenue figure.
Read at The Lowndes Signal →Lowndes County debates data center project
Detailed account of the April 28 Commission meeting. Probate Judge Adrian Johnson estimated 251 homes, roughly 750 people, fall within a two-mile radius of the site.
Read at The Lowndes Signal →Residents pack Lowndes County meeting over proposed data center
Residents filled the Charles Smith Building to standing room only as the project became publicly contested.
Read at WSFA 12 →An 800-acre data center is being quietly pushed in Lowndes County
The opening coverage: neighbors of the proposed site learned about it through reporting rather than through notice.
Read at Yellowhammer News →Cloverleaf backs out of data center project in Greenleaf, Wisconsin
The original report behind the Greenleaf withdrawal: offers of $50,000 to $120,000 per acre, and the village telling Cloverleaf the project was off the table.
Read at DataCenterDynamics →Cloverleaf drops initial plans for Michigan data center; council votes to block water supply
The original report behind the Dundee withdrawal: a 750-acre site, a unanimous council vote to deny water, and Cloverleaf’s own statement that it should have done more to communicate and listen.
Read at DataCenterDynamics →Vantage explores data center development on Cloverleaf site in Port Washington, Wisconsin
The original report on the Port Washington flip: Cloverleaf’s assembled site changing hands to Vantage Data Centers. Names Cloverleaf co-founder Brian Janous, a former Microsoft energy executive.
Read at DataCenterDynamics →
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