Graded Light and steady. 8 laws, orders, rulings and local actions, each with its source, reviewed 23 October 2026.
No in-force connection, own-power or reliability rule; Alabama Power connects on standard service, with SB 270 of 1 Oct 2026 touching only contract pricing.
SB 270, in force 1 Oct 2026, lets the PSC approve 150 MW contracts only if they recover incremental cost with collateral and minimum payments; no rate class.
One-year pauses in Homewood, Leeds, Springville and Cullman (June 2026) and Bessemer's 19 Oct 2026 halt order reach the Birmingham market.
HB 399, effective 1 June 2026, caps abatements at 20 years and ends state property and construction tax abatement for 100 MW sites once in service.
No in-force water, air permit or disclosure rule specific to data centers was found as of Oct 2026.
Scored on rules in force, 1 to 5. 5 is the most regulated. Pending rules set the arrow.
Alabama passed two data center laws in 2026 with near-unanimous votes and the governor's backing. HB 399 cuts the maximum tax abatement from 30 to 20 years and makes sites above 100 MW pay certain state taxes once in service. SB 270, in force since 1 October 2026, says the Public Service Commission may approve a contract with a data center of 150 MW or more only if it is expected to recover the added cost of serving it and benefit other customers. In practice review is light: under procedures the commission adopted on 6 October 2026, Alabama Power files a public petition naming the customer and its contracted capacity, the contract and financial analysis go confidentially to staff and the Attorney General, there is no hearing, and commissioners must vote within 90 days or the contract is deemed approved. A separate 2026 law, HB 475, expands the commission to seven members and freezes Alabama Power's rates through 1 January 2029. North Alabama is served by TVA, whose new data center rate applies there.
Two Alabama Power contracts for Applied Digital entities in Tuscaloosa County, Wooster LLC and APLD BHM-01 LLC, were under commission review as of 2 October 2026 and are the first test of the new procedures. In Bessemer, the newly sworn-in mayor sent QTS a letter on 19 October 2026 to cease work on the Project Marvel campus pending city permits, and Jefferson County is weighing a 1,000-foot vegetative buffer. Nine or more cities now have moratoria, including one-year pauses in Homewood, Leeds, Springville and Cullman and a six-month pause in Foley, while counties say Dillon's Rule leaves them no power to act. Sen. Arthur Orr plans a 2027 local bill giving Morgan County permitting authority over data centers. The 3 November governor's race splits on the issue: Doug Jones proposes a one-year statewide moratorium and an end to data center tax breaks, and Tommy Tuberville supports data centers.
No statewide moratorium, but 1 local pause is in force as of 23 October 2026, in Homewood, Leeds, Springville, Cullman, Foley and others. Proposals and expired pauses are not counted.
Steady. Alabama is graded Light, which means incentives in place and few new obligations. 2026 laws trim tax breaks; PSC now votes on 150 MW contracts within 90 days. The outlook above says what is pending.
Alabama sits in TVA and Southeast utilities. The grid operator decides how a new large load is studied, what it must bring or pay, and whether it can be curtailed first; the state decides siting, permits, tariffs and incentives.
Yes. Alabama has paused, narrowed or ended a data center incentive in 2025 or 2026: HB 399: abatements capped at 20 years.
On Genloop's five-line rubric (1 least regulated, 5 most) Alabama scores grid connection 1, power rates 3, siting and land use 3, tax treatment 3, permits and water 1, a mean of 2.2. The most regulated line is tax treatment: HB 399, effective 1 June 2026, caps abatements at 20 years and ends state property and construction tax abatement for 100 MW sites once in service.
8 items: each is a law, order, tariff, ruling, utility action or local decision that changes what a data center must do, pay or disclose, or where it may be built. Failed and pending measures are marked. Each links to its source.
Act 2026-610, effective 1 October 2026, adds Section 37-4-22.1. For a data center whose contract covers expected peak demand of 150 MW or more on contiguous parcels, the commission may find the contract in the public interest only if its pricing and terms are expected to recover the incremental cost of serving that customer, including fuel and taxes, and to promote benefits for the utility's other retail customers. Terms covered include minimum contract length, upfront payments, security and collateral and minimum payments.
Source: alison.legislature.state.al.usOn 8 July 2026 the Public Service Commission opened a proceeding and extended its review window for data center contracts from the 10 days in place since 1996 to 45 days. On 6 October 2026 it unanimously adopted final procedures for contracts covered by Act 2026-610: Alabama Power files a public petition naming the customer and its parents, the county or city and the maximum contracted capacity, the full contract and financial analysis go confidentially to commission staff and the Attorney General, and commissioners must vote within 90 days or the contract is deemed approved. There is no hearing or intervention. Under the interim window one contract, for ADC Holdings (Nebius, Oxmoor Valley), was deemed approved and two, Wooster LLC and APLD BHM-01 LLC (Applied Digital, Tuscaloosa County), were under review as of 2 October 2026.
Source: abc3340.comBessemer's council approved the original 700-acre, 18-building, 1.2 GW Project Marvel plan 5-2 on 18 November 2025 and in April 2026 voted 5-2 to rezone about 914 more acres, taking the campus to roughly 1,600 acres after ALDOT warned the original site sat in the path of the Northern Beltline interchange. A residents' suit alleging spot zoning was dismissed with prejudice by joint stipulation on 22 June 2026. QTS confirmed in July 2026 it is the developer and says site work is under city permits. On 19 October 2026 newly sworn-in Mayor Louise Alexander sent the developer a letter to cease work pending city permits; QTS asked to postpone a 23 October meeting and said it has no plans to expand the campus. Jefferson County is weighing a 1,000-foot vegetative buffer.
Source: abc3340.comUnder Dillon's Rule Alabama counties have no zoning power in unincorporated areas, so Lowndes, Mobile and Escambia counties say they cannot stop proposed campuses. Sen. Arthur Orr plans a 2027 local bill giving Morgan County permitting authority over data centers and says a statewide measure would need wider vetting; Democratic governor nominee Doug Jones proposes a one-year statewide moratorium and an end to data center tax breaks, while Republican nominee Tommy Tuberville supports data centers.
Source: govtech.comHomewood, Leeds, Springville and Cullman each adopted moratoria of up to one year in June 2026, and Foley adopted a six-month pause in September 2026; Fort Payne, Fairfield and Prichard are also listed as having adopted or considering pauses. Counties cannot follow: Alabama counties lack zoning authority under Dillon's Rule, so Lowndes, Mobile and Escambia commissioners say they cannot block Project Red Clay or the $6 billion Beacon project, and Escambia passed only a non-binding resolution in June 2026.
Source: govtech.comEnacted 17 April 2026 after passing the House 103 to 0 and the Senate 32 to 0; effective 1 June 2026. For abatements granted on or after 1 January 2027 the maximum for data processing centers investing more than $200 million falls from 30 to 20 years, with up to 10 more only under a binding agreement to fund local roads, bridges, broadband, water or wastewater systems or education; the extra years are revoked with repayment if the company defaults. For data centers with peak demand of 100 MW or more, the abatement of state non-education property tax and of state construction-related sales and use taxes ends once the site is in service, though servers, computers, networking, software and cooling equipment stay abatable. The program sunset moves from 2028 to 31 July 2032.
Source: alison.legislature.state.al.usSigned 2 April 2026. Expands the Public Service Commission from three elected members to seven, with four appointed by the governor by 15 July 2026, directs the next governor to create a secretary of energy to supervise the commission, and bars formal rate hearings until 2029 unless the secretary or five of seven commissioners call one. Alabama Power's rates are frozen through 1 January 2029, which limits any test of whether data center load lowers rates.
Source: alabamareflector.comAdopted 3 March 2026 with immediate effect. For 180 days the city will not accept or act on permits, site plans or licenses for new or expanded data centers using more than 20 MW; DC Blox's expansion and the Nebius AI Factory were already in permitting and exempt. A replacement ordinance with lighting rules and a 500-foot residential setback was delayed on 28 April 2026 and its adoption could not be confirmed; the pause was due to lapse in early September 2026 and no extension was found.
Source: birminghamwatch.orgNeed the capacity sooner than the queue allows? Every unit in the register is held by Genloop, restored and re-warrantied, and can move on your timeline.
Fast-track power →