LOCAL NEWS | By Tabitha Evans Moore | Editor & Publisher
LYNCHBURG, Tenn. — It’s gearing up to be the political hot potato of 2026 and on Tuesday, the Metro Planning and Zoning Commission will discuss what’s in Moore County’s best interests when it comes to the possibility of an AI data center coming to Lynchburg.
AI data centers are large, industrial-scale facilities filled with servers that store data and run artificial intelligence systems, requiring enormous amounts of electricity, water for cooling, and round-the-clock operation. AI computing is significantly more energy-intensive than traditional data storage.
No current projects have approached the Commission about potential permissions to develop an AI data center in Moore County, but in October of 2025, Arnold’s Engineering Development Center (AEDC) learned it was being considered a location for a private AI data center.
According to the October 23, 2025 edition of Defense News, the Department of the Air Force seeks to lease thousands of acres of land at five bases including AEDC to private firms to build their own artificial intelligence data centers. Other bases include Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona, Edwards Air Force Base in California, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey and Robins Air Force Base in Georgia.
AEDC reportedly offered two sites: a 122-acre site off Highway 55 and a 152 acre site off Wattendorf Memorial Highway. AS of press time, no official announcement had yet been made by the Air Force.
That’s close enough to get the attention of local Planning Chair Dexter Golden, who’s made no secret of his mindset when it comes to more development inside Moore County.
“We need to finish what we start and see how it affects us before we move to the next one,” he told The Times in our December 1 article entitled Preservation versus Progress.
Prior to tonight’s Planning meeting, Golden told us he placed AI data centers on the agenda so local officials could start talking about it now and determine how citizens feel about such projects prior to any interested party showing up at a meeting – unlike the fire-aim-ready way things happened with the tiny home community, solar farm, and anaerobic digester.
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Data centers seek undeveloped farmland
It’s a fight happening in small towns across the U.S. and one that’s likely to heat up in 2026. In many cases, rural communities with “undeveloped” farmland on the market are getting targeted with massive AI data centers in order to win the AI race with China. What they are discovering along the way is the ferocity of local grassroots movements dead set against it.
According to the Washington Post, leaders in Sand Springs, Oklahoma – a town of around 20,000 people – found themselves in a political firestorm when local leaders annexed 827-acres of agricultural land miles outside of town and began secret talks with a tech giant looking to use it for a sprawling data center, their January 6 piece entitled The data center rebellion is here, and it’s reshaping the political landscape stated.
And communities have every right to be cautious. Reports from Pennsylvania to Arizona and even nearby Memphis complain of huge operations located in the middle of traditional farmland not zoned for industrial use or near residential neighborhoods. Extra large data centers can drain the energy grid and exhaust local water supplies. Discharged water from data center is warmer and can adversely affect local ecosystems. Once approved, they’re basically permanent – forever changing the landscape.
Does Tims Ford Lake contain enough water to supply The Jack Daniel Distillery, Moore County, and a data center? What happens if there’s a drought? Who gets priority? How might a potential data center affect local electric rates? And how could the quality of life of folks in say underdeveloped Hurdlow, for example, be affected by a big, bright, humming data center in their backyard?
All questions the Commission will need to consider as they move forward with a proactive plan about how to handle any proposed AI data center development in the future.
Of course, there is another side to the story. According to the White House, data centers are a boom for rural America that will lead to big investments in local infrastructure, increased property tax revenue, and local construction jobs. However, critics in other communities note that projected tax benefits can be reduced by long-term abatements negotiated as part of economic development deals.
What’s the right answer? That’s up to the majority here in Moore County, but it’s important that citizens are vocal now instead of after a developer comes calling. To learn more, and be heard in the conversation, attend the Metro Planning and Zoning Commission tonight at the County Building at 5:30 p.m. There is always a public comment period, and Chari Golden is usually generous about allowing community members to be involved in discussions. •
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