‘I Know I Couldn’t Live Here’: Standing Up to a Data Center in Alabama’s Black Belt
Cloverleaf Infrastructure is pursuing Project Red Clay, a proposed $1.5 billion hyperscale data center on roughly 800 acres in Lowndes County, Alabama. Residents and community activists oppose the project over a lack of transparency and concerns about water use, pollution, power demand, and the county’s history of environmental and infrastructure problems.
Cloverleaf Infrastructure is seeking to prepare about 800 acres in northern Lowndes County for Project Red Clay, a proposed three-million-square-foot, $1.5 billion hyperscale data center. The developer is pursuing tax incentives and utility agreements, including up to 100,000 gallons of water per day from the Pintlala Water System and power service from Alabama Power. Alabama lawmakers have also reduced the maximum data center tax-abatement period from 30 years to 20 years beginning in 2027, creating pressure to seek approval sooner.
Protect Lowndes County and other residents have challenged the project’s limited disclosure and questioned its potential effects on water supplies, noise, pollution, and environmental health. The Southern Environmental Law Center and Natural Resources Defense Council filed an open-records request on behalf of local and environmental groups, while residents have demanded that county officials release project and economic-development records. Opposition remains active, and former Sen. Doug Jones has proposed a one-year statewide moratorium on data center development; no final decision on Project Red Clay has been reported.