Clinton residents who came out to the city’s municipal court building Monday night offered varied reactions to a new data center local officials recently announced. The development is one of the latest in a surge of recently announced data center projects in Mississippi.
Many of the speakers at Monday’s meeting expressed hope the city will finally earn revenue from a building that for years went unused, while others focused on limited information as well as a high energy demand.
“I’m cautiously optimistic about this,” said Shea Whitfield, who said his family has lived in Hinds County for six generations. “What good is an industrial park if we don’t bring industry into it?”
The center is set to move into a facility on Industrial Road Drive, just north of I-20 and west of downtown Clinton.
Audience members listen to speakers discuss a new data center in Clinton on Monday, March 16, 2026. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi TodayMayor Will Purdie said he expected to be able to release more details on the project “in the next few weeks.” The property had been a Milwaukee Tool facility from 2021 to 2023, but before that was a wiring plant that closed in 2009.
Clinton leaders have yet to reveal the new owner, but on March 4, WLBT reported that Amazon would own the data center, according to records it obtained.
Purdie said the facility will be “air cooled,” meaning it won’t need the large amounts of water other data centers use to prevent equipment from overheating. The data center in Clinton will also connect to the Entergy grid, meaning it won’t have the same air or noise pollution concerns brought up in places like Southaven, he added.
He also shared projections for city revenue from a fee-in-lieu of taxes, or FILOT, agreement with the company: In the first year, the Clinton Public School District stands to receive $3 million, and the city’s budget is set to receive an additional $2 million. Purdie said those annual gains will decrease over the next decade before climbing back up in year 11. The project will also create 50 permanent jobs as well as 800 to 1,000 temporary construction positions, the mayor said.
Another resident, Jill Hiers, was concerned the immense amount of energy the center will need will “tank” the local power grid if more transmission lines aren’t built. She also said the city should focus on bringing in businesses that will have more engagement with the local community.
A speaker wears a button opposing the new data center project in Clinton during a public meeting on Monday, March 16, 2026. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today“We want to bring people that will, you know, sponsor our Little League team,” Hiers said. “This is not that. It will bring some money into our city, it will not bring a good steward to our city.”
Tia McArthur, an insurance broker, said the data center will bring an “exponential” increase to local tax collections. Still, McArthur recognized that only having limited details about the project arouses suspicion among locals.
“We do need to have an honest discussion, we should avoid all appearances of evil,” she told the mayor and Board of Aldermen. “When you can and what you can, please disclose with the public.”
Resident Greg Dreaper questioned how much research city officials had done before approving the FILOT agreement in January.
“What I don’t see is how y’all are making decisions, whether it’s percentages (of the company’s revenue going back to the city) or whether it’s environmental impacts,” Dreaper said. “ I would like to see those studies and those numbers so that we can make educated decisions.”
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