Across Alabama, residents aren’t necessarily saying “no” to data centers. They’re asking questions. How much water will they use? Will they be noisy? Where should they be built? And perhaps most importantly, how can communities welcome new investment without changing the character of the places people call home.
Those questions are driving action. The Cullman City Council voted unanimously Monday night to approve a one-year moratorium on data centers, doing so without commentary from council members — becoming the fourth known Alabama city to hit pause on new data center development, following Birmingham, Leeds and Homewood.
The pause is enforceable. The resolution states that each day a violation continues constitutes a separate offense and that violations are subject to injunctions and abatement as a public nuisance…