Clarksville Data Center, Clarksville, Arkansas

Serverfarm is building a $6.6 billion data center campus beside Johnson Regional Medical Center in Clarksville, Johnson County, Arkansas. Construction is underway on the first of four buildings, due for completion by January 2028, with a total of 432 megawatts of power. Residents are now petitioning for a public vote on the up to $55 billion in industrial revenue bonds, a type of tax-exempt bond issued by the city on the company's behalf, that the City Council authorized for it on July 30, 2026.

The four phase-one buildings will need about 432 megawatts combined, against a peak demand of about 50 megawatts for the whole city utility. Because the utility's lines cannot carry that, the project includes a power island, a set of 40 on-site natural gas turbines that generate power for the campus itself. The utility's commitment letter provides up to 50,000 gallons of water a day at first, rising to 1.45 million gallons a day by July 2027.

Many residents learned of the project only when a hillside next to the hospital was cleared in January 2026. "And then I just looked out the window and it was just, it was happening," said Karen Fawley, who watched it from her mother's hospital room. Resident Bryan Connerly told a July town hall, "I don't think I'm the only one that believes big corporations don't always keep their promises."

The council's bond deal gives Serverfarm a 65% property tax break for up to 30 years through a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement, or PILOT, under which the company pays the city a set amount instead of standard property taxes. It also pays $1 million each to the city, the county and the hospital. Resident Becky Kraft asked the council to wait: "Once you approve these bonds, we're committed, not only to phase one but to two and three as well."

Organizers led by Heather Fresard are collecting signatures for a referendum on the bonds; each petition needs 291 valid signatures from Clarksville voters. On September 14 the council pulled an ordinance to set a special election because the signatures had not yet been certified. The Clarksville City Council meets next on October 12, when it could set a special election once the Johnson County clerk verifies the signatures.