The Direct Message Tension: Prichard needs private investment badly, but a $93 million data center imposes electricity and water costs that residents, not the operator, may ultimately absorb. Prichard residents have not been quiet. Earlier plans to build a data center in Tallassee were ultimately shut down following community feedback, according to WSFA’s reporting on the 2026 governor’s race, while other major data center projects in the state have kept moving. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, the Republican nominee for governor, has pointed to data center facilities in the state as economic successes, citing local benefits to communities. Facility tours arranged for Prichard residents did not calm those questions so much as sharpen them, according to local coverage.