Two public meetings set for this week about data centers in Lowndes, Marengo and Hale counties

Data center projects being proposed for several Black Belt counties will be discussed at two public meetings this week.

Lowndes County residents will get more information about an 800-acre proposed project called Project Red Clay in a public meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Lowndes County Courthouse.

Residents in Marengo and Hale counties have been invited to a Data Center Town Hall meeting sponsored by environmentalists on Thursday at 6 p.m. at The Hangout, 117 Washington St. in Demopolis.

Hosts Southern Environmental Law Center and Alabama Rivers Alliance say their town hall is focused on giving information to residents in Marengo and Hale counties because those counties “are being tapped for a data center.” Their meeting will talk about effects of data centers to the area. No additional information about the centers has been provided.

The Lowndes County’s proposed data center would be located in the Burkville area. Residents held a meeting last week to oppose the center and air concerns about water usage, power strain and neighborhood disruption.

Lowndes County Area Chamber of Commerce Interim Executive Director Dr. Ozelle Hubert said the county does not have the structure in place to evaluate a data center of this size and needs one before a decision to approve it. 

“Residents raised urgent questions about energy demand, water usage, land impact and long-term community outcomes,” he said. “However, there was no unified framework or execution plan to evaluate a development of this magnitude.”

Hubert said the chamber hired the national firm Connect2 IPA to conduct a structured evaluation of the proposed 5,000,000-square-foot, 800-acre Project Red Clay data center project and to provide infrastructure readiness and a community protection framework to deal with something this size.

The Lowndes chamber, in a release, said similar developments take over five to seven years to unfold and when they do, they bring significant population growth, requiring planning for housing, healthcare and emergency services. 

Hubert has also identified a potential alternative site for the Burkville project intended to reduce residential impact while aligning the project with existing infrastructure corridors. The readiness plan includes emergency response coordination, water and energy analysis, environmental review and workforce development planning.

Hubert said the chamber is not promoting the developer but ensuring transparency, accountability and community protection as the county evaluates the proposal.

Hubert is expected to present the readiness framework to the Lowndes County Commission at an upcoming meeting that will include participation from the data center development entity.