Alabama local moratoria
Every local infrastructure moratorium in the inventory for Alabama, current through August 19, 2026.
10 instruments — 8 in force, 2 pending, 0 past.
State policy is tracked separately: 4 actions (4 bills) in state_legislation.csv. These are not included in the local count above.
| Jurisdiction | Type | Enacted | Sectors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birmingham | City | 2026-03-03 | data center | 🟢 Active |
| Cullman | City | 2026-06 | data center | 🟢 Active |
| Fairfield | City | 2026-07-27 | data center | 🟢 Active |
| Fort Payne | City | 2026-06-16 | data center | 🟢 Active |
| Homewood | City | 2026-06-22 | data center | 🟢 Active |
| Hueytown | City | Unverified | data center | 🟡 Pending |
| Leeds | City | 2026-06-08 | data center | 🟢 Active |
| Morgan County | County | 2026-06-23 | cryptocurrency mining | 🟢 Active |
| Prichard | City | Unverified | data center | 🟡 Pending |
| Somerville | Town | 2026-07 | cryptocurrency mining | 🟢 Active |
Detailed entries
Birmingham
- Type: City
- Status: 🟢 Active
- Date enacted: 2026-03-03
- Normalized date:
2026-03-03(exact) - Duration: 180 days from the March 3, 2026 adoption/vote date, expiring August 30, 2026 (March 3 plus 180 days). WBRC and Birmingham Times both confirm the March 3, 2026 vote date and the six-month term; no separate publication-date lag was found or is needed for this calculation.
- Current end date:
— - Sectors: data center
- Moratorium ID:
al-birmingham-2026 - Legal basis: Birmingham City Council March 3, 2026 agenda, P(ph) Item 1, "An Ordinance to consider a temporary suspension on data centers within the City" [Second Reading], adopted unanimously per Birmingham Times reporting; the city's data center policy page (birminghamal.gov/datacenters) confirms the moratorium is in effect [VERIFY: formal ordinance number not yet visible in Municode or city ordinance index as of 2026-04-29]
- What prompted it: Regulatory gap and project pressure from large/hyperscale proposals; city cited need to review zoning, land-use policy, infrastructure readiness, environmental responsibility, neighborhood compatibility, and transparent approval procedures
- Affected projects: Applies prospectively to new or expanding large/hyperscale data centers above 20 MW. The Nebius BHM01/Oxmoor project and DC BLOX expansion were reported as exempt because applications or permits were already complete or under review before the moratorium took effect.
- Detailed status: Active as of 2026-07-31, still running under its original 180-day term (through 2026-08-30). The City Council separately voted 6-3 on June 9, 2026 to adopt permanent data-center zoning regulations (zoning case ZAC2026-00001); per WBRC, those new regulations "will take effect when the city's six-month moratorium on data center applications lifts," i.e., on or about August 30, 2026. As of 2026-07-31 the moratorium itself remains the operative rule; the permanent ordinance has been adopted but is not yet in effect.
- Outcome: Pending. Draft permanent zoning regulations were heard on 2026-04-28, but the council delayed the vote to the first week of June 2026 for revisions and renewed public notice.
Cullman
- Type: City
- Status: 🟢 Active
- Date enacted: On or about 2026-06-25, per WBRC reporting of the city council vote
- Normalized date:
2026-06(month_only) - Duration: 12 months
- Current end date:
— - Sectors: data center
- Moratorium ID:
al-cullman-2026 - Legal basis: Cullman City Council ordinance, unanimously adopted, imposing a temporary 12-month moratorium on data centers
- What prompted it: City will examine existing zoning districts and assess potential impacts of data centers on residents' quality of life during the moratorium
- Affected projects: Not identified in captured news coverage
- Detailed status: Adopted unanimously; not independently re-checked past 2026-06-26 publication [VERIFY instrument number; primary source (news-only evidence) not confirmed at confidence 0.65 in the 2026-07 refresh]
- Outcome: City council unanimously adopted a 12-month moratorium on data centers
Fairfield
- Type: City
- Status: 🟢 Active
- Date enacted: 2026-07-27 (City adoption of Ordinance 1174)
- Normalized date:
2026-07-27(exact) - Duration: 180-day prospective moratorium beginning on the ordinance's effective date (publication/posting date not located)
- Current end date:
— - Sectors: data center
- Moratorium ID:
al-fairfield-2026 - Legal basis: Ordinance 1174
- What prompted it: Pause on new data centers, data center support facilities, and material expansions; exempts two specified parcels at 7199 and 7160 Aaron Aronov Drive and preserves vested rights and existing lawful operations
- Affected projects: Exempts 7199 and 7160 Aaron Aronov Drive (site of the disclosed Patmos colocation data center proposal reported 2026-07-22)
- Detailed status: Active as of adoption 2026-07-27; the publication/posting date establishing the precise effective and expiration dates was not located. [VERIFY]
- Outcome: —
Fort Payne
- Type: City
- Status: 🟢 Active
- Date enacted: 2026-06-16 (City Council unanimous approval of a six-month data center moratorium)
- Normalized date:
2026-06-16(exact) - Duration: Six months while the Planning Commission drafts zoning rules
- Current end date:
— - Sectors: data center
- Moratorium ID:
al-fort-payne-2026 - Legal basis: City Council ordinance/resolution (instrument number not located)
- What prompted it: Pause on data center development while the city drafts zoning rules; officials said the city had received no data center inquiry and acted before an application arrived
- Affected projects: —
- Detailed status: Active per local reporting; the adopted moratorium text and instrument number were not located in sources reviewed. The Planning Commission held a related public hearing on prospective data center/battery storage rules on 2026-06-23. [VERIFY] [VERIFY instrument number not confirmed at confidence 0.6 in the 2026-07 refresh]
- Outcome: —
Homewood
- Type: City
- Status: 🟢 Active
- Date enacted: 2026-06-22, per WBRC reporting of the city council vote
- Normalized date:
2026-06-22(exact) - Duration: 12 months, with the possibility of an additional six-month extension
- Current end date:
— - Sectors: data center
- Moratorium ID:
al-homewood-2026 - Legal basis: Homewood City Council ordinance, unanimously adopted, temporarily suspending approval of data centers larger than one megawatt
- What prompted it: City wants to study how data center facilities could affect the community before further approvals
- Affected projects: Not identified in captured news coverage
- Detailed status: Adopted unanimously; not independently re-checked past 2026-06-23 publication
- Outcome: City council unanimously adopted a 12-month moratorium on data centers larger than one megawatt
Hueytown
- Type: City
- Status: 🟡 Pending
- Date enacted: Resolution 7499, 'Imposing A Temporary Moratorium On Data Center Classed Facilities,' was listed on the 2026-07-14 City Council agenda; disposition unconfirmed
- Normalized date:
—(unverified) - Duration: Unknown; not confirmed adopted
- Current end date:
— - Sectors: data center
- Moratorium ID:
al-hueytown-undated - Legal basis: Resolution 7499 (agenda item only; signed resolution not located)
- What prompted it: Proposed temporary moratorium on data center-classed facilities
- Affected projects: —
- Detailed status: The city had not posted July 14 minutes, the signed resolution, a vote tally, duration, or effective date as of 2026-07-31. A later July 28 agenda listed approval of the July 14 minutes but did not establish the disposition of Resolution 7499. [VERIFY adoption date not confirmed at confidence 0.4 in the 2026-07 refresh]
- Outcome: —
Leeds
- Type: City
- Status: 🟢 Active
- Date enacted: 2026-06-08 (Monday night), Leeds City Council, unanimous vote.
- Normalized date:
2026-06-08(exact) - Duration: One year from adoption (to approximately 2027-06-08).
- Current end date:
— - Sectors: data center
- Moratorium ID:
al-leeds-2026 - Legal basis: Leeds City Council ordinance imposing a one-year moratorium on data center and other high-impact facility development, halting new permits and approvals (ordinance number not located).
- What prompted it: No active data center project underway in Leeds at time of adoption; preemptive pause to allow the city to update zoning ordinances and gather public feedback, amid a wider wave of Alabama municipalities (Birmingham, Homewood, and later Pinson) considering similar pauses.
- Affected projects: None pending at time of adoption.
- Detailed status: Active as of 2026-07-31 (expires approximately 2027-06-08). [VERIFY instrument number; primary source (news-only evidence) not confirmed at confidence 0.65 in the 2026-07 refresh]
- Outcome: City Council unanimously adopted a one-year moratorium halting new data-center permits and approvals.
Morgan County
- Type: County
- Status: 🟢 Active
- Date enacted: 2026-06-23 (County Commission approval of a one-year moratorium on the proposed VoltCore Bitcoin-mining data center)
- Normalized date:
2026-06-23(exact) - Duration: One year, to allow study of environmental, noise, and other community effects
- Current end date:
— - Sectors: cryptocurrency mining
- Moratorium ID:
al-morgan-county-2026 - Legal basis: County Commission resolution/ordinance (instrument number not located)
- What prompted it: Pause targeted at the proposed 50 MW VoltCore Bitcoin-mining facility near Union Road and the Stringer watershed near Somerville, following resident petitions (more than 450 signatures reported by the vote)
- Affected projects: Proposed VoltCore 50 MW Bitcoin-mining facility near Union Road/Stringer watershed, Somerville
- Detailed status: Approved per local reporting; the county's online minutes archive did not include a June 23 meeting record as of compilation, so the resolution number, full scope, and adopted text remain unconfirmed. [VERIFY] [VERIFY instrument number; primary source (news-only evidence) not confirmed at confidence 0.55 in the 2026-07 refresh]
- Outcome: —
Prichard
- Type: City
- Status: 🟡 Pending
- Date enacted: Council President Traci Hale introduced a proposed resolution for a renewable 480-day moratorium on new data center permits at the 2026-07-23 Council meeting; no vote occurred
- Normalized date:
—(unverified) - Duration: Proposed renewable 480-day moratorium; not adopted
- Current end date:
— - Sectors: data center
- Moratorium ID:
al-prichard-undated - Legal basis: Proposed resolution (draft text not located)
- What prompted it: Proposed pause on new data center permits following opposition to Edged Energy's planned Telegraph Road facility near Africatown
- Affected projects: Edged Energy's proposed data center at 214 Telegraph Road, near Africatown
- Detailed status: No vote occurred at the 2026-07-23 meeting, and no later July vote was identified by the compilation date. [VERIFY instrument number; adoption date; primary source (news-only evidence) not confirmed at confidence 0.4 in the 2026-07 refresh]
- Outcome: —
Somerville
- Type: Town
- Status: 🟢 Active
- Date enacted: On or about 2026-07-07, per 1819News and Yahoo/local-TV reporting of the Town Council vote
- Normalized date:
2026-07(month_only) - Duration: Reported 18-month moratorium on data centers within town limits
- Current end date:
— - Sectors: cryptocurrency mining
- Moratorium ID:
al-somerville-2026 - Legal basis: Town Council ordinance/resolution (instrument not located; official town website could not be retrieved due to an SSL certificate mismatch)
- What prompted it: Pause following resident opposition to a proposed Bitcoin-mining facility near Union Road
- Affected projects: Proposed VoltCore-related Bitcoin-mining facility near Union Road, Somerville
- Detailed status: Reported approved with mayoral support; the signed ordinance/resolution, vote tally, effective date, and expiration date were not located in the town's online records. [VERIFY] [VERIFY instrument number; primary source (news-only evidence) not confirmed at confidence 0.45 in the 2026-07 refresh]
- Outcome: —
Source: moratorium_inventory.csv · Methodology · Codebook.