Alabama Power is one of two utilities that could serve this project, a party to the state proceeding reviewing large-load contracts, and, through an employee, a seat on the county board recruiting it. None of that is improper by itself. We built a page that states only what is disclosed, dated, and sourced.
The plainest finding is a negative one, and we are publishing it as prominently as any other: a full search of the Alabama Power PAC’s disclosed expenditures found no payment to any current Lowndes County commissioner. We are also publishing what the same PAC ledger does show, disclosed contributions to the legislators who sponsored and carried this year’s large-load utility bills, because a fair accounting includes both.
The Alabama Power Foundation has given $338,250 to the Central Alabama Community Foundation since 2022, all general and operating grants, none naming this project. CACF is the reported intermediary for a proposed Cloverleaf community-benefits package; nothing in the public record ties these two facts together yet. And a comparable large-load contract, for a different data center in a different county, is the closest thing to a preview of what Project Red Clay’s own contract will look like once it is filed: a public version with the price removed.
None of this alleges bribery, a quid pro quo, or a violation of any statute. It is the paper trail, as far as it currently goes.12345