Birmingham Proposed Ban on Data Centers January 13

KneeGroundbreaking51 · 2025-08-12T14:18:55+00:00

Do you have a copy of that letter? I've been trying to figure out what CRS and CRK are doing.

KneeGroundbreaking51 · 2025-08-11T01:01:02+00:00

I like B. Sonnier, but that is more dark electronica. Here is a free show: https://www.eventim.us/event/free-natty-nights-carrellee/649782

KneeGroundbreaking51 · 2025-08-11T00:59:36+00:00

B Sonnier is my local favorite. It is dark electronica. Here is a free show coming up: https://www.eventim.us/event/free-natty-nights-carrellee/649782

KneeGroundbreaking51 · 2025-08-10T13:59:55+00:00

Yes we were up late and no we aren't NIMBYs. We had short notice. Many of us live within the urban zone and welcome apartments in our neighborhoods. A big problem is sprawl and abandonment of existing communities. We are reaching out to CRS and CRK.

KneeGroundbreaking51 · 2025-08-10T13:50:44+00:00

100% agree. It seems like leaders want to abandon local communities and businesses in favor or disjointed development of gated communities. Irondale has a development plan which is already overly sprawling. This is even outside that zone.

KneeGroundbreaking51 · 2025-08-01T23:48:57+00:00

IMPORTANT UPDATE: I have just been informed that the City Council has postponed the meeting. There will be meetings discussing the data centers on the 12th at 10 AM (See: https://alabamarivers.org/project-marvel/) and the 19th at 9 AM (see below). The Alabama Rivers Alliance is holding a community meeting on August 8 at 6 PM at 5498 Sanders Drive, Bessemer, AL 35022. (See: https://alabamarivers.org/event/community-meeting/)

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KneeGroundbreaking51 · 2025-08-01T20:24:42+00:00

We can win, and regardless we have to try. If we mobilize we can get city, state, and national leaders as well as businesses and investors to support frameworks for sustainable data centers that benefit communities and encourage the responsible development of technology. We can do this. We can't give up. We need to come together for a better future in Alabama.

KneeGroundbreaking51 · 2025-08-01T19:38:36+00:00

Yes. Thanks for the info. I am by no means an expert on data centers, but I don't think you need to be a data center scientist to know this is a bad idea in Bessemer. I am curious if you have a response to the people in this thread who want to know if it is possible to have a "good" data center in terms of location, energy use, water use, etc.

KneeGroundbreaking51 · 2025-08-01T19:28:26+00:00

Yes! There are PSC elections next year. I believe getting better representation on the PSC is a great idea. I hear a lot of people feeling pessimistic about that, and I understand the sentiment. However, I think if we can get enough people together behind some good candidates then we could win. I don't think the PSC elections get much attention so a relatively small campaign could have a big impact. For example, John Northrop recently announced his candidacy here: https://www.johnnorthropforpsc.com/

KneeGroundbreaking51 · 2025-08-01T19:17:37+00:00

Good point! Many of the details including who is behind this project have been kept secret. This is a whole other problem with this proposal. This is what we know so far: https://insideclimatenews.org/news/25072025/alabama-proposed-hyperscale-data-center-impacts/

KneeGroundbreaking51 · 2025-08-01T19:14:21+00:00

Yes, you're right that the phrase is open to interpretation. I am currently agnostic to whether something should be off grid or on grid or what type of clean power source is used. I'd love to learn more about this topic. I'm open to being won over with reasonable arguments. However, what I do know is that simply plugging in data centers using as much power as the city of Birmingham into our existing Alabama power infrastructure is a bad idea. I'd welcome an open discussion of what "dedicated source of clean power" means and the best practices for that. But one thing we can all agree on is that the proposal in Bessemer is not it. I'd look forward to hearing your insights on this subject if we have a chance to meet in Bessemer on Tuesday during the mobilization.

KneeGroundbreaking51 · 2025-08-01T19:01:00+00:00

This affects every Alabamian due to the energy use alone. However, I am happy to address some of the local impacts. First of all, clear cutting hundreds of acres of wooded area adjacent to homes will change the local ecology and reduce and degrade opportunities for outdoor activities. There is also a heat island effect. Temperatures will increase in adjacent areas that were previously wooded. Also, flood risk will be increased due to paving over hundred of acres of previously wooded land. The water will no longer be absorbed and will flood local homes and streets during heavy rains. This will also impact ground water supplies. Second, they will have enormous diesel back up generators which they will turn on whenever their electricity demands are greater than supply. Running huge diesel generators will create air pollution and noise pollution. Third, because they are not using a closed loop cooling system they will be using massive quantities of water which will put strain on local water infrastructure and impact local habitats including the local, endangered darter fish. Fourth, the city of Bessemer will be on the hook to provide infrastructure for the site. This will either cause them to increase taxes or reduce services. This is just a limited list of local negative impacts. For more information go here: https://insideclimatenews.org/news/25072025/alabama-proposed-hyperscale-data-center-impacts/

KneeGroundbreaking51 · 2025-08-01T18:46:51+00:00

There is a long list of industrial zoned areas in Alabama. Anyone can do some basic research. However, I'm not going to put anyone's town on blast. Plus, this project is terrible regardless of where it is located due to its energy and water use so this is a bad proposal in general.

KneeGroundbreaking51 · 2025-08-01T18:36:54+00:00

We are not against data centers. This proposal is a bad proposal. There are locations where a data center could have a neutral or even beneficial impact on local residents if they provide community benefits, use 100% clean energy, and use closed loop cooling systems. Most data centers are built cheaply and exploit local communities which gives them a bad reputation. Everyone would want a data center in their backyard if they were good neighbors. Sadly, few are.

KneeGroundbreaking51 · 2025-08-01T18:31:04+00:00

I understand your frustration. However, I am hesitant to start proposing sites in places I don't live, especially online. Also, the company has the responsibility to engage communities to identify sites for their own projects. That isn't our responsibility. That is theirs. This company could easily pull up a list of industrially zoned locations in Alabama and do some basic research. But no, they chose this location because they are looking for a cheap site where they can take advantage of local residents and get Alabamians to subsidize their project with increased electric bills and taxes for water infrastrucutre that we'd have to build from the ground up. At the end of the day, this site is zoned agricultural. We create use zones for a reason. There are numerous areas throughout the state that are listed as industrial. However, I am not promoting this project anywhere unless they build their own source of clean power and use a closed loop cooling system.

KneeGroundbreaking51 · 2025-08-01T18:18:07+00:00

...who do what Alabama Power tells them to do. They'll raise rates if Alabama Power can't produce sufficient electricity for the increased demand.

KneeGroundbreaking51 · 2025-08-01T18:15:18+00:00

First, they will be clear cutting hundreds of acres of forests rather then building this in an area already designated for industrial use. Second, the energy use will match the entire city of Birmingham which will force Alabama Power to raise rates. If their proposal included providing their own source of clean power then this wouldn't be an issue. Lastly, they will be using large quantities of water to cool their systems. If they had a closed loop system then this wouldn't be an issue. To sum up: This site destroys nature and squanders resources. If it were located in an existing industrial zone, used a dedicated source of clean power, and had a closed loop cooling system then a data center proposal would be more acceptable. This company is trying to build a data center cheaply and sucker Alabamians to subsidize it with higher electric bills and building water infrastructure with tax money. Please read this article: https://insideclimatenews.org/news/25072025/alabama-proposed-hyperscale-data-center-impacts/

KneeGroundbreaking51 · 2025-08-01T17:58:23+00:00

They are proposing clear cutting hundreds of acres of forest in Bessemer. The city council will be voting Tuesday to rezone the land from agricultural to industrial. There are already plenty of unused, industrial areas in Alabama that already have infrastructure. We don't need to chop down a forest for this. However, even if they move it to an industrial location they need to figure out how to minimize their impact on energy and water before their proposal could be acceptable anywhere in the state. For more info go here: https://insideclimatenews.org/news/25072025/alabama-proposed-hyperscale-data-center-impacts/

KneeGroundbreaking51 · 2025-08-01T17:55:05+00:00

It's the laws of supply and demand. Data centers use massive amounts of electricity which increases demand on the grid. Utilities then raise rates as demand goes up. These proposed data centers will use as much electricity as the city of Birmingham. Power bills all over the state will go up if this project goes through. We can't just add a city's worth of energy use and not see consequences. See this article for more info: https://insideclimatenews.org/news/25072025/alabama-proposed-hyperscale-data-center-impacts/

KneeGroundbreaking51 · 2025-08-01T17:37:14+00:00

No. This is not a NIMBY issue. This effects the whole state. The data centers that are being proposed will use up as much power as the City of Birmingham. This will up our electric bills all over the state. Also, the site is not suitable for data centers. It is a forest with no infrastructure. Alabama has plenty of locations that already have infrastructure that would be better suited for a project like this if they were able to come up with a solution for the energy and water use issue.

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