BHM01 Nebius Data Center, Birmingham, Alabama

Nebius, an AI cloud company, has its 300 megawatt BHM01 data center under construction in the Oxmoor Valley area of Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, on the site of the former Regions Lakeshore Operations Center. Three lawsuits are trying to stop the project, and Jefferson County Circuit Judge Javan Patton Crayton has set March 8, 2027, for a hearing on whether to halt it permanently.

Nebius plans two phases, 100 megawatts first and then 200 more, with full build-out by 2028, and expects to spend nearly $36 billion over 30 years on the campus. The company says the project will bring more than 100 jobs and an estimated $80 million for Birmingham city and Jefferson County schools.

"This is 900 feet from my home. We didn't find out until February 9th," John Hilley said at an April protest outside City Hall. The Greater Birmingham Humane Society, which had planned an animal medical campus nearby, told the council that the noise studies data centers rely on discount the high frequencies and vibrations that animals hear. Patrick Anderson of the Southern Environmental Law Center warned that if all four of Nebius's backup diesel generators were modeled running, "it could be really hard for them to not show a violation."

Birmingham gave public notice of a data center moratorium on December 16, 2025, and Nebius requested its permit on January 7, before the council approved a six-month moratorium on March 3 that exempted projects already in permitting. On June 9, 2026, the council voted 6-3 to adopt the city's first data center zoning rules, banning routine on-site gas and diesel generation and setting a 500-foot buffer from homes, but the rules do not apply to BHM01.

Construction continues while the case moves forward, and the decision on BHM01 now rests with the March 8, 2027, hearing before Judge Crayton. Nebius spokesperson Leah Davis told WBHM in September that the company believes it "followed every legal and valid process."