Over one year later, the long-anticipated zoning application from a Georgia energy company to build a data center in Luther has been filed. Public hearings on the application for a Special Use Permit are scheduled for July 13, 2026, with the Luther Planning Commission.
The privately owned, undeveloped land, which would be sold to BLE Land Holdings for an undisclosed sum if the SUP is approved, is located on the east side of the Red Bud Energy Plant on Triple X Road, north of Covell. Prepared by Beltline attorneys, the application says “the proposed use of this property is in harmony with surrounding zoning.”
Meanwhile, the next Luther Board of Trustees meeting will be held on Tuesday, at 7 pm at 108 S Main. Data center items are on the agenda, including an action item on the temporary moratorium on data centers tabled last month and a no-action item on the just-filed application. The public hearings on the application are in mid-July.
The 14-page statement from Beltline Energy accompanying the application contains some information. There will be 100-foot setbacks (roughly two school buses nose-to-nose) for buildings from the roads (Coffee Creek and Covell), natural landscaping (existing trees) – some used for buffer, a lot of brick on the buildings, 3000K LEDS (generally accepted for landscaping and kitchens), noise levels at 65 dBA at the property line (between the levels of background music and average office noise at the upper range of “safe” levels), light poles not higher than 20 feet and buildings no higher than a nine-story building.
However, many of the questions from concerned residents and town trustees remain unanswered, including whether a separate agreement has been secured with OKC for the use of wastewater for cooling, or the amount of electricity to run the 320-acre property, and whether the adjacent Red Bud Energy Plant has the capacity to provide it. Those are some of the issues with the feasibility study, which was assumed to have been researched and prepared over the last year.
Interestingly, the application appears to call for the Town of Luther to provide water and sewer service to the property – water that would NOT be dedicated to the data center’s cooling but for landscaping, fire protection, and domestic needs, and sewer for domestic needs and not for the wastewater cooling needs.
Those who live north of Route 66 and within the Town of Luther limits know there are no existing water or sewer services, and the current, aging water and sewer systems serving town proper need help. Estimates indicate that extending water and sewer lines from the town center over three miles (including boring under the Deep Fork River and Route 66) to the data center location on Covell between Peebly and Triple X Roads requires multi-agency regulatory approval, engineering work, and multiple millions of dollars. Beltline doesn’t seem to offer to chip in for that in its application and statement, leaving us to wonder how the system would be funded – loans and grants, and utility payer rate increases (beyond the rate increases proposed in this year’s Town budget, also to be considered on Tuesday). No doubt explanations might be given at future meetings.
Everyone has an opportunity to study the materials and attend the meetings. Citizens must sign in to speak for two minutes on an agenda item.
While many concerned folks wonder why the town trustees simply do not just “SAY NO” to the proposal, the trustees, who swore their oaths of office, are bound by state law, the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution, and existing town zoning laws to hear every Special Use Permit that comes before them. To deny it outright would subject the town to litigation or possibly result in the project being awarded by default, not to mention the property owners’ rights at the location.
Whether this application is simply the first leg of a long negotiation, it does not allay all concerns, promise financial benefits in dollar amounts beyond projections of various tax revenues and a potential for local business support, or offer anticipated enticements to a small town being asked for a big thing.
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