The Frequency

The Alabama Public Service Commission unanimously approved Alabama Power’s “Clearview Ranch” project Tuesday, clearing the way for a 1,400-acre, 200-megawatt solar facility and a 200-megawatt, two-hour battery storage system split across Macon and Bullock counties. The unusual part: Alabama Power customers won’t pay for it.

Under the agreement, Meta subsidiary Dotier is covering the full cost of the project for a 20-year term in exchange for the solar power it generates — power expected to help run Meta’s $1.5 billion data center under construction in Montgomery. “After reviewing the project’s economics and supporting information, staff concluded that the project meets those requirements and will not negatively impact customers,” said PSC President Cynthia Lee Almond. “In fact, because Dotier is bearing all the project costs, Alabama Power’s customers are expected to benefit over time rather than having to pay for the project.”

Alabama Power says construction will create about 400 jobs and generate roughly $110 million in state and local tax revenue over 20 years — $27 million headed to Macon County and $56 million to Bullock, with $44 million of that combined total earmarked for local schools. “This project represents an investment in education and the future workforce,” Macon County Superintendent Dr. Melissa Williams and Bullock County Superintendent Sean Dees said in a joint statement.

Not everyone is satisfied with how the approval moved through the process. Energy Alabama, a clean-energy advocacy group listed in the docket, says it was never notified before the commission signed off. “The first we are learning of it is when it gets approved at the Public Service Commission,” said the group’s executive director, Daniel Tait. An exact site within the two counties hasn’t been announced, and the project still needs federal and state environmental permits before construction begins.

Chambers County isn’t part of Macon or Bullock, but the deal previews how Alabama Power plans to handle the wave of AI-driven demand headed for the state’s grid — the same fight now playing out in this year’s governor’s race.

Data centers have become one of the most contested issues in Alabama’s 2026 governor’s race, as concerns over noise, water use, air quality and a lack of public transparency collide with the economic case for chasing the AI boom. Republican nominee Tommy Tuberville has embraced the technology without reservation. “We’re going to do data centers,” he said earlier this month, dismissing environmental and public health concerns as “bull crap.” He’s promised Alabamians won’t foot the bill: “My pledge to every single Alabamian is that I will protect Alabamians from paying a single cent more for their energy as a result of a data center moving to their community. Not a single cent.”

Democratic nominee Doug Jones is proposing the opposite approach — a one-year moratorium on new data center development while the state writes rules to protect communities. “Those concerns are not bull crap,” Jones said at a July 27 policy address. “They’re real and they’re being heard in communities across the South.” Any future guardrails face one obstacle already: the Legislature passed a law this spring barring Alabama from imposing environmental regulations stricter than the federal government’s — meaning even a study conducted during a moratorium couldn’t easily translate into new state rules.

The fight isn’t confined to the governor’s race. Two Republicans running in the Aug. 11 special primary for Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District split the same way: Rep. Rhett Marques says “they’re coming” and it should be a local decision, while opponent David Matthews would rather send data centers to Georgia or Mississippi, citing broader worries about AI’s impact on jobs.

Public health researchers say the science on hyperscale data centers’ health effects is still thin. “We can’t know the health impacts until somebody actually sits down and does a population-based study,” said Kris Zierold, a University of Mississippi public health professor. Harvard government professor Stephen Ansolabehere told Alabama Reflector the bigger fight will play out downballot, in county commissions and city councils — the bodies with the most direct leverage over whether a project gets built at all.

Chambers County doesn’t have a data center proposal on the table yet, but the debate over who decides — state, county or city — is the same one that will shape any future project here.

The Chambers County Commission voted unanimously Monday night to approve its FY2027 road and bridge project list, covering work on six bridges and 34.2 miles of county roads. County Engineer Josh Harvill described the philosophy behind the timing: “This is kind of similar to what I would say you do when you stain a wooden deck ... preserving that pavement before we start having potholes.”

The commission also approved the FY2027 Rebuild Alabama Plan, funded by an estimated $1.731 million in state gas-tax revenue and covering 19 separate infrastructure projects across the county. In an amended addition to the agenda, commissioners approved buying a used 2022 street broom for $49,500 through a cooperative purchasing contract to help with ongoing road maintenance.

Harvill also updated the commission on summer paving already finished this year, including work on County Road 32, County Road 94 and part of County Road 158 — motorists are still asked to drive carefully in areas with loose rock while the new pavement cures. The meeting opened with a special presentation honoring courthouse security officer Elizabeth “Beth” Shaver for five years of service.

The commission’s Roads, Ways and Means Committee meets again Aug. 24 at 1 p.m., ahead of the next regular commission meeting that same day at 4 p.m. in the small courtroom.

Lanett business owner Dave Shirley asked the city council Monday to make good on a 25-year-old promise: free lifetime sewer service, in exchange for a sewer line the city ran through his family’s property without permission back in 2001. “In 1989, my parents and I bought the first lot located in the county in Nora Villa, the subdivision right off of Phillips Road behind the golf course,” Shirley told the council. “In 2001, someone from within the city government gave the go ahead to come through our property without asking us to dig and cut trees to put in a sewage line right through our property, which was county property and not city of Lanett property. Instead of suing the city, the city manager gave us a letter on city letterhead that we would receive free sewage hookup along with free sewage for our lifetime.”

Shirley now wants that promise applied to the house he currently lives in, on a lot adjacent to the one named in the original agreement. He’s already lined up a plumber and met with the city’s sewer department manager about tying into a nearby manhole. “We are asking the council and the mayor for your help,” he said. “We are currently on a septic tank and would like to switch to city sewage.” Mayor Jamie Heard told Shirley the city would follow up with a decision.

The council also cleared an easement allowing Alabama Power to run electrical service to new hangars planned at Lanett Regional Airport, and approved proclamations for National Night Out and National Health Center Week. A separate report put the cost of demolishing a vacant structure at 912 N. Eighth St. at $6,000.

Patients in Chambers County have three new options for emergency care that stops short of a hospital admission. EAMC-Lanier Rural Emergency Hospital in Valley opened three new observation beds within its emergency department Aug. 1, dedicated space for patients who need more monitoring or treatment but not a full inpatient stay or a transfer elsewhere.

“Ensuring continued access to expert, local emergency care is a priority for us,” said Greg Nichols, chief facilities officer at East Alabama Health and administrator of EAMC-Lanier. “These beds are a great resource for the community, giving patients expanded access to treatment and short-term observation close to home.” The beds are meant for patients receiving IV fluids or medication, awaiting test results, or needing short-term monitoring before a decision is made on discharge or transfer to a higher level of care — freeing up the department’s standard beds for patients who need urgent treatment right away.

The Emergency Department at EAMC-Lanier sees nearly 13,500 patients a year, and the facility also offers diagnostic imaging, outpatient rehabilitation and lab services. As a Rural Emergency Hospital — a federal designation that requires patients needing inpatient care to be transferred elsewhere — those three beds mean fewer of those transfers for people who don’t actually need one.