Protect Lowndes County

The deal

Run the numbers.

Every row below pairs what has been said publicly with what the record establishes. The right-hand column is never a counter-claim. It is a sourced fact or a named gap.

Parallel plough furrows in red clay soil running toward a distant line of pine at dawn.

The ledger

What was said. What is known.

At least 50 permanent jobs.

Developer website

Four different permanent-job figures have been given by the project and its advocates, ranging from 50 to 300. An independent estimate put the number going to Lowndes County residents at roughly nine at current capture rates.1​2​3​

Over $1 billion in taxable investment.

Developer website

The Commission chairman stated on May 26, 2026 that the project is $1.5 billion. Both figures are attributed to the project side and have not been reconciled in public.4​5​

$75 million in projected net annual tax revenue.

Project briefing

The assumptions behind that projection have not been published, and it is a gross figure. The draft agreement the Commission approved estimates $1.15 billion in abated County taxes over 20 years, an estimate built on the developer’s own figures.6​7​

$10 million for the county through a community foundation.

Developer statements

One million is upfront. Nine million is milestone-gated: $4 million contingent on an electric-service contract and PSC approval, $5 million paid over five years after construction begins. The gift-agreement terms are not public.8​9​

No impact on existing ratepayers.

Company, utility, and Commission chairman statements

The chairman said in April that the power bill will not go up. The contract and cost-allocation study that would demonstrate this are not public. The Alabama PSC opened Docket 33709 on July 8, 2026 to review large-load contracts. In Virginia, reporting attributed an added $11.24 per month in 2026 to data-center load; in Ohio, roughly $16 per month.10​11​12​13​14​

Closed-loop cooling, water use like a small office building.

Developer website

The stated draw is up to 100,000 gallons per day framed as a one-time fill. Peak makeup water, blowdown, fire flow, construction demand, and wastewater volume and disposal are undisclosed.15​16​

It will be quiet and low-traffic.

Company interview, paraphrased

The company estimates under 60 decibels at the property line. A Lowndesboro resident with three decades of data-center experience warned commissioners of continuous fan noise known as acoustic roar. Residents near comparable facilities elsewhere have reported sleep disturbance, headaches, and hypertension, and sustained sound above 65 decibels is associated with elevated stress. No noise study for this site has been published.17​18​19​20​

The abatement

Twenty years, approved in ten minutes.

Abatement terms comparedThree horizontal bars on a shared scale of zero to forty years. The HB399 cap effective 2027 is twenty years. The abatement approved for Project Red Clay on October 13, 2026 is twenty years. The ceiling before 2027 was thirty years. The abatement granted to the Burkville plant was forty years.010203040Years of property-tax abatementHB399 cap from 202720Approved October 1320Ceiling before 202730Burkville plant, granted40
The approved draft estimates the abated State and County taxes at $2.79 billion over twenty years. The signed agreements have not been released.

The Commission approved a twenty-year abatement on October 13, 202621​, in a meeting of about ten minutes with no public comment22​. The draft agreement estimates the abated taxes at $2,786,467,575: about $1.15 billion in County taxes and about $1.64 billion in State taxes7​. School taxes are not abated.

The tax break does not depend on jobs. The draft says so in as many words, and asks only for "commercially reasonable efforts" toward 125 jobs in ten years, while the company’s own briefing to commissioners promised a "Minimum 225 permanent jobs"23​.

In May, the Chairman said three times that he would not vote for a thirty-year abatement24​. The one he voted for in October runs twenty25​.

HB399 caps these abatements at twenty years for any abatement granted on or after January 1, 2027, and attaches new conditions to anything longer26​27​. This one was granted before that date, so the new rules do not reach it.

The abatement is one gate. The operator is still unnamed28​, and the water contract, the power contract, and the permits are decided elsewhere.

National context

What this asset class costs elsewhere.

$1.4Msubsidy per job

Average public subsidy per data-center job in Illinois. No state reports both jobs promised and jobs actually created.29​

0.2%forecast probability

Probability that projected regional demand growth across Alabama, Georgia, and the Carolinas materializes as forecast, per analysis of a December 2025 report.30​

30 to 13gigawatts requested

Ohio data-center demand requests after the state adopted protective ratemaking rules. How the rules are written changes how much power is actually asked for.14​

$64Bblocked or delayed

U.S. data-center project value blocked or delayed by community opposition, across nearly 200 active groups in more than 24 states.31​

These are national and out-of-state figures. They are context for the kind of deal being proposed, not measurements of this project. The measurements of this project have not been released.

Sources on this page

  1. ↑

    Project Red Clay, Cloverleaf Infrastructure (2026-07-10). Developer website — view source

    DisputedAccessed 2026-07-10
  2. ↑

    Cloverleaf responds to Lowndes County data center concerns, WSFA 12 (2026-06-04). WSFA interview — view source

    DisputedAccessed 2026-07-12
  3. ↑

    Letter to the editor, The Lowndes Signal (2026-04-30). Letter to the editor, late April 2026

    ReportedAccessed 2026-07-12
  4. ↑

    Project Red Clay, Cloverleaf Infrastructure (2026-07-10). Developer website — view source

    DisputedAccessed 2026-07-10
  5. ↑

    Stakeholders consider potential data center project, The Lowndes Signal (2026-05-26). Commission meeting — view source

    DisputedAccessed 2026-07-12
  6. ↑

    Stakeholders consider potential data center project, The Lowndes Signal (2026-05-26). Project briefing — view source

    DisputedAccessed 2026-07-27
  7. ↑

    Proposal for Project Red Clay: draft Tax Abatement Agreement and LCEDC revenue model, Lowndes County Economic Development Commission packet, posted by the developer (2026-10-05). Tax Abatement Agreement section 5(d), packet pp. 39-40; LCEDC model, packet p. 129 — view source

    Accessed 2026-10-16
  8. ↑

    Cloverleaf emphasizes data center benefits amid community concerns, The Lowndes Signal (2026-06-01). Developer statements — view source

    ReportedAccessed 2026-07-12
  9. ↑

    Central Alabama Community Foundation, IRS Form 990 (EIN 63-0842355), ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer (2026-01-01). Nonprofit Explorer — view source

    Accessed 2026-07-27
  10. ↑

    Stakeholders consider potential data center project, The Lowndes Signal (2026-05-26). Utility statement — view source

    ReportedAccessed 2026-07-27
  11. ↑

    Mystery data center could receive 30-year tax break beside sacred Selma march ground, Yellowhammer News (2026-07-24). Reporting by Sherri Blevins, quoting an April statement — view source

    ReportedAccessed 2026-07-27
  12. ↑

    Docket 33709 public comment and reply information, Alabama Public Service Commission (2026-07-08). Generic proceeding — view source

    Accessed 2026-07-12
  13. ↑

    Virginia regulators approve new Dominion rates, Inside Climate News (2026-01-07). Rate class approval — view source

    Accessed 2026-07-27
  14. ↑

    Data Center Power Demands Are Contributing to Higher Energy Bills, Environmental and Energy Study Institute (2026-01-01). Ratemaking and demand — view source

    Accessed 2026-07-27
  15. ↑

    Cloverleaf responds to Lowndes County data center concerns, WSFA 12 (2026-06-04). Cloverleaf statement to ICN and WSFA — view source

    ReportedAccessed 2026-07-12
  16. ↑

    Records Request for Documents related to Project Red Clay Data Center, Southern Environmental Law Center and Natural Resources Defense Council (2026-07-27). Request scope: environmental and noise studies — view source

    Not disclosed by the projectAccessed 2026-07-12
  17. ↑

    Cloverleaf emphasizes data center benefits amid community concerns, The Lowndes Signal (2026-06-01). Company interview — view source

    ReportedAccessed 2026-07-27
  18. ↑

    Cloverleaf responds to Lowndes County data center concerns, WSFA 12 (2026-06-04). Aaron Bilyeu statements — view source

    ReportedAccessed 2026-07-27
  19. ↑

    Mystery data center could receive 30-year tax break beside sacred Selma march ground, Yellowhammer News (2026-07-24). Reporting by Sherri Blevins — view source

    ReportedAccessed 2026-07-27
  20. ↑

    Living in Hell: Data Center Neighbors Grapple With Noise, Air Pollution, U.S. News & World Report (2026-04-28). Resident reporting, with EESI on the decibel threshold — view source

    Accessed 2026-07-27
  21. ↑

    Proposal for Project Red Clay: draft Tax Abatement Agreement (document 207939027.v18), Lowndes County Economic Development Commission packet, posted by the developer (2026-10-05). Tax Abatement Agreement sections 2(c) and 5(f)(i), packet pp. 36 and 40 — view source

    Accessed 2026-10-16
  22. ↑

    Lowndes County Commission meeting, October 13, 2026 (livestream), Mosses Messenger (Facebook livestream of the public meeting) (2026-10-13). Stream 2:07 to 12:17; attorney 3:06; October 20 resolution 7:58 to 10:08; approval 10:46 to 11:37 — view source

    Accessed 2026-10-16
  23. ↑

    Proposal for Project Red Clay: draft agreements and Commissioner Briefing Packet, Lowndes County Economic Development Commission packet, posted by the developer (2026-10-05). Tax Abatement Agreement section 5(e), packet p. 40; Development Agreement section 2.4, packet pp. 13-14; Commissioner Briefing Packet, packet p. 71 — view source

    Accessed 2026-10-16
  24. ↑

    Lowndes County Commission regular public meeting, May 26, 2026, Lowndes County Commission (streamed public recording) (2026-05-26). Approx. 01:40-01:58 of the public recording

    Accessed 2026-07-27
  25. ↑

    Commission pushes through data center deal approval, The Lowndes Signal, Lanell Downs Smith (2026-10-13). Roll call and description of the motion — view source

    ReportedAccessed 2026-10-13
  26. ↑

    HB399 Enrolled, Alabama Legislature (2026-04-09). Enrolled text, Sec. 40-9B-3(12) and Sec. 3; sponsor Rep. Leigh Hulsey (R-Helena) — view source

    ReportedAccessed 2026-07-27
  27. ↑

    Alabama Senate sends bill to limit data center tax breaks to Governor, Alabama Reporter (2026-04-10). Legislative action — view source

    ReportedAccessed 2026-07-27
  28. ↑

    Records Request for Documents related to Project Red Clay Data Center, Southern Environmental Law Center and Natural Resources Defense Council (2026-07-27). Request scope: confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements — view source

    Not disclosed by the projectAccessed 2026-07-12
  29. ↑

    Cloudy Data, Costly Deals: How Poorly States Disclose Data Center Subsidies, Good Jobs First (2026-01-01). National subsidy review — view source

    Accessed 2026-07-27
  30. ↑

    Experts say data center growth is speculative, Southern Environmental Law Center (2025-12-01). Greenlink analysis — view source

    ReportedAccessed 2026-07-27
  31. ↑

    Data Center Watch report, Data Center Watch (2026-01-01). National registry — view source

    ReportedAccessed 2026-07-27

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