How this has been handled
A community should not
learn from a newspaper.
None of what follows alleges a crime. What it establishes is a pattern: communities finding out late, and public numbers that move.
The company’s own words
We did not write these sentences.
Cloverleaf will not work in communities where this type of development is unwelcome or the development does not match the existing use for the land. That is a decision we will make ten times out of ten.
That is Cloverleaf, in writing, about a different community, in an email released under Michigan's open-records law1. It is the fairest possible standard to hold the company to, because the company set it.
The written standard says an unwelcoming community ends the project ten times out of ten. Asked in public what the company actually looks for in a host community, its Chief Development Officer described something narrower.
What we typically look for is leadership that is willing to have the conversations and facilitate those conversations.
One sentence says the community decides. The other says what the company looks for is leadership willing to keep the conversations going. Which sentence governs Lowndes County depends on which body speaks for it.2
Residents’ account
At the June 3, 2026 open house at Hayneville Middle School, a resident asked whether he would build a home for his own family next to a data center of the kind proposed here. Cloverleaf’s Chief Development Officer answered with one word.3
“No.”
This is an account from coalition members who were present. It is not yet in print, and we label it as what it is: an account, not a finding.
In Lowndes County
What the record shows here.
Private meetings were acknowledged at the open house.
At the June 3, 2026 community open house at Hayneville Middle School, asked directly by a resident, Cloverleaf’s Vice President of Community Engagement acknowledged that the company had held private meetings with the Lowndes County Commission and the Economic Development Commission.
This account comes from coalition members who were present and is not yet in print. We label it as what it is: an account, not a finding.67
The development body has no written conflict-of-interest policy.
The Lowndes County Economic Development Commission’s IRS Form 990 for the year ending September 30, 2024 answers four governance questions in the negative: no written conflict-of-interest policy, no written whistleblower policy, no written document retention and destruction policy, and no compensation process involving independent review.
That is not an allegation. It is four boxes on a federal form, filed by the body recruiting this project, and you can read it yourself at the link below.
The LCEDC’s Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws also confirm a contribution-tier board structure: a $2,500 annual contribution corresponds to a voting board seat, and $5,000 or more to a seat on the Executive Committee. For the full structural picture, including how the same officers sit on both sides of the votes this project needs, see The LCEDC.89
And in other states
The same pattern, on the record.
Officials said there was no formal proposal. The emails said otherwise.
Two dozen emails obtained through public records showed nearly a year of detailed Cloverleaf discussions about land surveys, special-use permitting, and engineering, while city officials publicly told residents there was no formal proposal.10
Talks began in January. Residents were told in the spring.
Email records show the village administrator was in talks with Cloverleaf beginning January 2026, months before residents were informed. A resident said the board was misleading by not disclosing the communications.11
The public water figure and the executed contract were not the same.
For a data center at Hope Hull, the publicly stated water figure was about 30,000 gallons per day. The contract obtained through an open-records request allocated about 150,000 gallons per day, plus roughly 90,000 gallons per day of wastewater that was never disclosed publicly at all.
Different company, different project. We are not claiming it predicts anything here. We are saying it is the reason a community asks to read the executed contract rather than the summary.12
Claim drift
The same project, told more than one way.
We keep every version with its date and its speaker rather than picking the convenient one. Numbers changing over time is not proof of bad faith. It is proof the public version is not settled enough to vote on.
Built square footage
- 5 million sq ftOriginal proposal, April 2026The Lowndes Signal
- 3.7 million sq ftCoalition summary, June 2026
- 3.01 million sq ftCompany plan reviewed by ICN, June 2026Inside Climate News
Permanent jobs
- At least 50Developer websiteCloverleaf Infrastructure
- 50 to 100Commission chairman via WSFA, April 2026WSFA 12
- 50 to 200Coalition summary, June 2026
- 200 to 300Company interview with WSFA, June 2026WSFA 12
Investment
- Over $1 billionDeveloper websiteCloverleaf Infrastructure
- $1.5 billionCommission chairman, May 26, 2026The Lowndes Signal
Sources on this page
- ↑
Cloverleaf vs. Other Developments (Draft), email released under Michigan FOIA, Village of Dundee / Dundee Township, Michigan (2025-09-23). Email to Dundee officials, cc Aaron Bilyeu
Accessed 2026-07-27 - ↑
Cloverleaf Infrastructure officials answer data center questions in Wrightstown, WFRV (2026-05-01). Public listening session — view source
Accessed 2026-07-27 - ↑
Cloverleaf community open house, Hayneville Middle School, Account of coalition members present (2026-06-03). Open house, 2026-06-03
UnverifiedAccessed 2026-07-27 - ↑
An 800-acre data center is being quietly pushed in Lowndes County. Its neighbors are just finding out, Yellowhammer News (2026-04-01). Opening coverage — view source
Accessed 2026-07-27 - ↑
An 800-acre data center is being quietly pushed in Lowndes County, Yellowhammer News (2026-04-01). ICN-reviewed company plan — view source
ReportedAccessed 2026-07-12 - ↑
Cloverleaf community open house, Hayneville Middle School, Account of coalition members present (2026-06-03). Open house, 2026-06-03
Accessed 2026-07-27 - ↑
Cloverleaf to hold community open house for Lowndes County data center project, The Lowndes Signal (2026-05-27). Event announcement — view source
Accessed 2026-07-27 - ↑
LCEDC IRS Form 990, fiscal year ending 2024-09-30 (EIN 46-3011080), Internal Revenue Service, via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer (2024-09-30). Part VI Section B, governance policies — view source
Accessed 2026-07-27 - ↑
LCEDC Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws, Alabama Secretary of State filing, reproduced in the LCEDC Public Inspection Notebook (2013-05-29). Articles Art. 4; Bylaws Art. II Sec. 8
Accessed 2026-07-27 - ↑
Edwardsville Officials Assured Residents the City Had No Formal Proposal For a Data Center, But City Emails Tell a Fuller Story, Illinois Answers Project (2026-02-21). Public-records investigation — view source
Accessed 2026-07-27 - ↑
Wrightstown works with Cloverleaf on possible data center, NBC 26 (Green Bay) (2026-05-01). Email records — view source
Accessed 2026-07-27 - ↑
Water-service contract obtained by open-records request, Montgomery-area water system (2026-05-01). Open-records production
ReportedAccessed 2026-07-27
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