Doug Jones outlines data center policies at Lowndes County town hall

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Doug Jones Monday made his position on data centers the focal point of a town hall in Fort Deposit in Lowndes County that was attended by about 50 people.

Speaking in a county where a planned hyperscale data center project has drawn public attention, Jones reiterated his plan to impose a year-long moratorium on new data center construction; require public disclosures of development agreements between data centers and local governments; discourage tax breaks for data centers and limit tax breaks for their construction.

“Right now, I think we need to amend Alabama law, so they don’t get any tax breaks,” Jones said. “They don’t get tax incentives, and they don’t get any tax abatements. These companies are going to make a gazillion dollars here in Alabama if they build a data center.”

The Red Clay Project, led by a power-land development firm Cloverleaf Infrastructure, is an 800 to 1,100-acre data center construction project planned for the northern part of Lowndes County.

Residents said they are concerned with the amount of electricity and water that the data center will use and that they have not been told how it will work.

Jones has argued a moratorium would allow study of the impact of data centers on water and electricity bills, quality of life and potential noise pollution.

“If you put a moratorium and there are people who want to do this, you get everybody to the table, you start talking, you try to figure this out, I really think it could be done in less than a year,” Jones said.

Jones also wants companies who spearhead their development to invest in the community.

“Not just property taxes, but how are you going to help fund our local law enforcement, how are you going to help fund education,” Jones said during the interview.

He also said he wants to change the ethics laws to ensure that local officials do not personally benefit from voting in favor of building a data center in their jurisdictions.

“I think in Alabama, there is a concern with people that if things are going on behind closed doors, there is something nefarious going on,” Jones said. “I want to make sure that is not the case, that people know their public officials do not have any financial interest in any of the land, any of the property, any of the data center companies.”

He said he wants to propose additional rules on disclosure as part of the state’s ethics rules.

Finally, he accused U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, the Republican nominee for governor, of waffling on the issue.

“I have watched him go from, ‘We are going to do data centers and all the concerns of the community is bull crap,’ and having all the data centers we can get, to now, basically adopting everything I said except for the moratorium piece of that,” Jones said.

A message was sent to the Tuberville campaign on Monday seeking comment.

The town hall Jones hosted touched on education as well. Sam Winters, for example, asked what can be done to improve the quality of education in Alabama.

“The lottery is the issue that jumps out because it sticks out like a sore thumb,” Jones said during the town hall.

He said he wants to use the proceeds not only for healthcare, but also for education.

“If we can do that as part of a comprehensive gambling bill, we should do that too,” Jones said to attendees.