BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones is pressing for an “immediate moratorium” on new data centers in Alabama, arguing that residents are being kept in the dark about projects that will reshape local power and water use, while U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville is embracing the facilities as a cornerstone of the state’s economic future and artificial intelligence boom.
The debate comes as global technology companies plan unprecedented spending on AI-related infrastructure, with major firms projected to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in data centers and related hardware in 2026 alone. Those sprawling campuses house the specialized computers that train and run large AI models, but they also demand huge amounts of electricity and, in many cases, water for cooling.
Jones, the Democratic nominee for governor, says Alabama is moving too fast without statewide standards or meaningful local input. He has characterized opposition to data centers as coming from Alabama families who discovered massive projects in their communities only after key decisions had already been made, not from foreign adversaries. Jones has argued that Alabama should halt approvals until it has a real statewide plan for how and where such facilities will be built…