Residents packed a city council meeting in Conway Tuesday afternoon to oppose the construction of a massive data center in the town. A data center is a giant warehouse filled with computers whose sole purpose is to store data.
If built, the facility will be 300,000 square feet and could cost up to $1 billion. The city estimates the data center will create about 50 jobs. The city is considering building the center for an unnamed Fortune100 company.
The project is championed by Forgelight Ventures LLC, a shell company with no in-state presence. Its tax filings list a Delaware address.
During the meeting, several residents worried their electricity bills could go up because of the data center, or that the technology could drain precious water resources. Many said the project was just moving too quickly without locals being able to voice their concerns.
Conway Mayor Bart Castleberry tried to quell residents' fears when he opened the meeting.
“We recognize that many of the concerns are important and sincerely held,” he said. Later, he added: “It is important to understand that any potential data center development in Conway will not happen quickly.”
Castleberry insisted the project is “speculative” and will follow the same bureaucratic process as any other economic development project Conway has seen.
Among the residents speaking in opposition was Jeremy Rice. He lives on the same road as the proposed data center, and described himself as the “closest resident.”
“I still do not have real answers,” he said, referencing previous appearances at city meetings. “I’ve emailed each of you directly and those responses are very vague and generic.”
He listed these questions in an email to Little Rock Public Radio including missing details about the company's charitable contributions, lack of an economic or environmental study and buildings whose purpose was insufficiently documented.
“The response many of us are receiving, and are still receiving is ‘this is the best neighbor you are going to get. You should be happy this is a Fortune 100 company.’”
University of Central Arkansas professor Emily Lane, who specializes in environmental justice, said the data center could affect the environmental health of the Southwest Conway neighborhood. She said data centers produce large amounts of excess heat.
“Pre data center, this area has toxic air releases in the 98th percentile nationally,” she said. “And 11 times higher than the national average.”
Another resident, Phillip Fletcher, said he was “agnostic” about the center itself, but wanted the city to take time and listen to concerns.
“We can't say who the company is,” he said addressing the council members. “And it makes no sense because you represent us.”
In a conversation after the event, Jamie Gates from the Conway Chamber of Commerce described the data center as an "opportunity." He confirmed to Little Rock Public Radio that he had signed a non-disclosure agreement covering “proprietary information.”
Groups around the country are working to block construction of new data centers. Meanwhile, in 2025, Arkansas passed a law making it easier to build data centers. Little Rock and the greater central Pulaski County area are also considering plans for a new data center.
This reporting was made possible by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
