Residents near Thomasville in Clarke County and near Calvert in Mobile County have packed local government meetings in recent weeks to oppose large data center projects proposed for their communities. But elected officials in both counties have delivered largely the same message: under Alabama law, there is little to nothing they can legally do to stop the projects from moving forward. The explanation traces back more than a century, to a state constitution written in 1901 that stripped most independent governing power from Alabama's cities, counties and school boards.
That document, still in force today with well over 700 amendments attached to it, requires local governments to seek permission from the Alabama Legislature in Montgomery for many of the basic decisions that officials in most other states can make on their own. The arrangement is commonly known as the absence of "home rule," and it is now colliding with a wave of data center development sweeping across the state. A Constitution Built to Limit Local Power Alabama's 1901 Constitution was written at a time when state lawmakers wanted to keep tight control over local affairs, and that design has proven remarkably durable.
Of Alabama's 67 counties, only Baldwin and Shelby — two of the state's fastest-growing and most populous — have been granted broad home rule authority by the Legislature. Every other county, including Clarke and Mobile, must rely on state statute for most of its governing power, and neither has the kind of comprehensive zoning authority that would let commissioners regulate where an industrial-scale facility can be built outside city limits. That gap is now at the center of two unfolding disputes in southwest Alabama, where developers are eyeing sites just south of Thomasville in Clarke County and in the Calvert community of Mobile County for new data centers.
What a Data Center Is — and Why Communities Are Divided Data centers are large, often nondescript buildings packed with computer servers and networking equipment that keep websites, apps, cloud storage and artificial intelligence systems running. Once concentrated in major metro areas, they have spread into smaller and more rural communities across the country as demand for computing power — particularly to run AI applications — has surged. Supporters point to the economic upside: individual projects can cost billions of dollars, generate thousands of construction jobs, support a smaller but steady permanent workforce, and produce significant sales and property tax revenue for state and local governments. That revenue potential is a major reason economic developers and some elected officials have welcomed the projects.
But many nearby residents worry about the tradeoffs, including heavy electricity and water consumption that could strain utility systems in smaller communities, along with the near-constant mechanical noise the facilities can generate around the clock. Thomasville: 'There's No Vote This Council Can Take' In Clarke County, opposition has centered on a proposed data center just outside Thomasville's city limits. A recent Thomasville City Council meeting drew a large crowd of concerned residents asking what officials could do to stop it. Mayor Sheldon Day told the crowd the city's authority effectively ends at its own boundary line. "There's no vote that this council can take directly to stop the project," Day said.
Background and Context
He noted that while Thomasville has zoning ordinances that govern development inside city limits, those rules do not extend beyond the municipal border, and Clarke County — like 65 of Alabama's 67 counties — has no zoning ordinance of its own to fill that gap. Day added that the city does retain one lever: it can decline to offer local incentives if the developer requests them, though that would not block the project outright. Clarke County Commission Chairman Jackie Ray Rush said he has fielded numerous calls from residents about the proposal but wanted to be clear about the limits of his board's role. "I want to be clear, Clarke County does not have a dog in this fight," Rush said at a recent commission meeting.
"The Clarke County Commission has nothing to do with it." Like the city, the county commission has no legal mechanism to approve, reject or condition the project. Calvert: Mobile County Commission Says It Lacks Zoning Power A similar scene has played out in Mobile County, where residents of the Calvert community attended a county commission meeting to raise concerns about a separate proposed data center in their area. Commissioner Merceria Ludgood told attendees the commission's hands are similarly tied. "The county commission does not have the authority to permit or not permit a data center," Ludgood said. "We do not have zoning. What we do comes by statute.
Anyone who lives in the county can do pretty much anything they want." Her comments underscored that, absent home rule or a county zoning ordinance, unincorporated Mobile County has few tools to regulate large-scale industrial land use, whether it involves a data center or another type of development. State Lawmakers Weigh Whether to Act The pattern playing out in Clarke and Mobile counties has drawn the attention of state legislators, some of whom argue Montgomery needs to give local governments more say. State Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, said the state should not ban data centers outright but does need to create guardrails.
"We don't need to ban them but we do need some kind of controls where they can't just come in and plop down next to people who have lived in a particular place for decades and without any type of say-so by local government," Orr said. He argued that local governments should be able to weigh in on proposed projects on a case-by-case basis, an idea that could be taken up when the Legislature convenes for its next regular session in 2027. Lawmakers have already taken one modest step.
Legislation passed this year requires data centers that consume more than 150 megawatts of power to come under the oversight of the Alabama Public Service Commission, a move aimed at ensuring the state's largest, most power-hungry facilities receive at least some regulatory scrutiny even where local zoning does not apply. A Broader Political Divide Over Data Centers The debate over data centers has also surfaced in Alabama's 2026 governor's race and in Washington, with candidates and members of Congress staking out notably different positions. U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, the Republican nominee for governor, has argued data centers provide valuable revenue for public services and said he supports their continued construction.
Background and Context
Tuberville has also suggested that much of the negative narrative around data centers is being pushed by Chinese interests opposed to the United States expanding its computing capacity, framing robust domestic data infrastructure as important to national security and America's ability to compete with China on artificial intelligence. Doug Jones, the Democratic candidate for governor, has staked out a more cautious position, calling for a six-month to one-year moratorium on new data center construction to give state and local governments time to develop stronger regulatory guardrails before more projects move forward. At the federal level, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, has co-sponsored legislation that would pause construction of all data centers nationwide until Congress establishes uniform national standards for the industry.
Data Centers Multiplying Across Alabama The Thomasville and Calvert proposals are part of a larger statewide trend. According to Cleanview, a website that tracks data center development, Alabama currently has 27 operating or planned data centers. Most are clustered around the state's larger metro areas — Huntsville, Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Montgomery and Mobile — but several large projects are also on the drawing board for rural areas, including Lowndes County and Childersburg, along with a planned expansion of an existing Google facility in rural Jackson County. For now, residents in Clarke and Mobile counties are left watching a process that state and local officials alike say ultimately rests with Montgomery.
Unless the Legislature grants new authority to counties or enacts statewide standards for siting large industrial facilities, city and county governments in most of Alabama will continue to have little formal say over whether — or where — a data center gets built in their community.
Wider Significance for Coastal Alabama
This story is part of a broader set of changes playing out across Mobile, Baldwin and the wider Gulf Coast region. Local residents, businesses and government agencies have been watching developments like this one closely, because decisions made in Mobile and Baldwin counties often ripple outward into neighboring communities across south Alabama, Mississippi and the Florida Panhandle. Public meetings, council work sessions and state legislative hearings have all carried echoes of the underlying concerns, with stakeholders ranging from neighborhood associations to industry groups weighing in on what the outcomes will mean for daily life along the Gulf Coast. Reporters and editors in the region have worked to document how these issues affect ordinary people, from commuters on Interstate 10 to families visiting the public libraries and parks that anchor so many of the Port City’s neighborhoods. The deeper context often emerges over months rather than days, as projects move from announcement to planning to construction, and as the people most directly affected find their voices in the public record. Continued coverage remains important, both for accountability and for the historical record, and the unfolding situation is one that warrants attention from anyone with a stake in the future of south Alabama.
Looking ahead, observers across the region expect the conversation to continue evolving. Local officials have signaled their intent to monitor outcomes closely, and community organizations have indicated they will remain engaged as new information becomes available. The intersection of state policy, local implementation and on-the-ground impact is precisely where stories like this one tend to develop their lasting significance. For Mobile and Baldwin residents, the practical effects will play out over time, in everything from tax bills and utility rates to traffic patterns and the availability of public services. Following the developments requires patience and attention to detail, but it is also a reminder of how civic life in coastal Alabama continues to be shaped by decisions that begin far from the neighborhoods they ultimately touch. Residents who want to stay informed can do so by following local government meetings, attending public hearings when significant issues arise, and reading the regional reporting that tracks how these stories progress from one phase to the next.
Local news organizations continue to follow this story closely, and updates are expected as more details emerge. The developments have generated discussion across the region, with attention from both longtime residents and newcomers who are following the issue for the first time. Community leaders have emphasized the importance of staying engaged with local government and participating in public meetings when significant decisions are being made. As the situation continues to unfold, residents are encouraged to remain informed through reliable local reporting and official city and county communications channels. The story remains active, and additional information is anticipated in the coming days and weeks as the relevant agencies and stakeholders complete their work.