Prichard Residents Rally Behind Data Center Moratorium at Public Hearing as Permit Question Lingers

Prichard residents once again spoke in favor of the city’s moratorium on data center development during a public hearing Thursday night, though it remains unclear how the pause will affect a building application already submitted to the city.

The Prichard City Council held the meeting to hear from residents after voting the previous week to halt data center projects in the city for 180 days. Council attorney Moshae Donald said the moratorium will give Prichard time to review ordinances from other municipalities and craft a plan to regulate tech industry infrastructure.

The moratorium vote came days after the city received an application from an unidentified developer to build a data center in the community. For months, Edged Energy has courted Prichard in hopes of building a $93 million complex at 214 Telegraph Road, despite significant public opposition. A timeline distributed by a city employee at Thursday’s meeting shows Edged first contacted the city in October 2025, after which the city provided information about local zoning and building requirements and held two follow-up conversations about the project before the end of the year.

City attorney Josh Briskman told residents that Prichard was required to issue a permit for the proposed data center on July 30, since the moratorium was not yet in effect at that time.

Resident Chiquitta Howard, who said she lives near the proposed site, told the council that many of her neighbors are worried and upset about how the facility could affect their quality of life. “We just want what we want, and we don’t want what we don’t want,” she said. Another woman, who did not give her name, said she lives across the street from the proposed site and would “totally hate for this center to get there.” She said several Prichard residents, including her husband, have been diagnosed with various forms of cancer that she attributes to heavy industry already operating in the area.

Virginia Lockhart, a retired nurse and vocal opponent of the project, questioned how students at nearby Whitley Elementary School would be able to concentrate over the data center’s constant humming, and raised concerns about the school’s water supply.

Not all residents who spoke opposed the project. Pamela Jones said outside groups have spread misinformation in Prichard to turn residents against it. “We are tired of fear tactics scaring us out of every opportunity,” Jones said. “You’re smart. You can do some research.”

City officials said it remains unclear whether the moratorium will halt the permitting process for the data center application submitted in July.

What a moratorium does

A development moratorium is a temporary pause that lets a city stop accepting or acting on certain types of projects while it writes new rules. Prichard’s 180-day moratorium is meant to give the council time to study other cities’ data center ordinances and draft its own regulations, after which it would need to adopt any new rules by council vote.