Project River Data Center

Opposition and litigation at this site

Yes. Project River Data Center in Cleveland, Bradley County, Tennessee is contested. Hearings, public comment, petitions, or organized opposition are on record, and no lawsuit has been filed so far. Residents packed a Cleveland Planning Commission meeting in August 2026 over a separate, nearly-400-acre Wright Brothers proposal, with much of the concern centred on fears a data center could be developed there.

How the community has taken it

Reception is a sourced signal, not an editorial judgment: contested means active public debate is on record, with hearings, petitions, or organized opposition, without litigation.

Residents packed a Cleveland Planning Commission meeting in August 2026 over a separate, nearly-400-acre Wright Brothers proposal, with much of the concern centred on fears a data center could be developed there. Neighbouring business owner Ryan Kertesz of B & B Marina told WTVC he has worries about effects on wildlife. Bradley County Mayor Gary Davis said publicly he was told of the announcement only as a courtesy and was not involved in developing or negotiating the project. Two public information forums were scheduled at the PIE Center for 2026-09-01 and 2026-09-12.

Source: NewsChannel 9 / WTVC

Power and water

Powered behind the meter by the co-located Project River energy campus (500 MW biomass plus 1,000 MW natural gas), with a requested 360 MW TVA interconnection for backup and peaking only. Developers say no diesel generators.

The developer states the campus makes its own water by recovering moisture as biomass dries, running on a closed loop, and says it recovers enough clean water annually to supply both the power plant and the anchor tenant with no day-to-day draw on the municipal system. CEO Mitchell Simpson told Mix 104.1 WCLE the biomass process yields 200 gallons per minute of usable internal water for cooling loops and that the plant needs no river intake or discharge pipes. Classified closed_loop on the recirculating-circuit rule; the sources do not state the heat-rejection equipment.

Notes on the record

THE DATA-CENTER TENANT IS NOT CONFIRMED. Wright Brothers Construction CEO Mitchell Simpson told Mix 104.1 WCLE on 2026-08-26 that the power plant is certain but its offtaker is not: "We definitely know we're developing a power plant... We don't know what it's going to power yet... It potentially could be a data center, but it very well could be something else," naming advanced manufacturing, robotics and semiconductor manufacturing as alternatives, before adding that with that much power "it's very likely going to be that." The company's own 2026-08-26 release describes the campus as "anchored by an on-site power plant and data center." Recorded at confidence 'reported' for that reason. Roughly 850 acres of privately-owned Wright family land west of I-75 and north of Old Lower River Road NW, along the Hiwassee River in northern Bradley County near I-75 Exit 33, submitted for rezoning and annexation into the City of Cleveland on 2026-08-25. The $11.3bn headline is the whole campus; $7.3bn is the data-center portion as itemised in press coverage. Groundbreaking is not expected until end of 2027 and the build is phased over 60 months. Coordinates are a geocode of Lower River Road NW, not the parcel; no source states lat/lon. No state or local incentive agreement is named in any of the three sources.

Other sites within 30 miles

Distances are between recorded coordinates, many of which are a city or county centroid, so treat them as approximate. Cumulative load on one utility and one aquifer is the question a planning commission rarely asks.

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