Locals gather for a peaceful protest against data centers

VICKSBURG, Miss. (VDN) — A group of local residents gathered Saturday morning to protest the Amazon Web Services data center to be built in Warren County.

Saturday, July 18, about 50 people gathered to protest the building of a new AWS data center to be build on Dana Road in Vicksburg near the Dana Road Elementary School.

Protesters were encouraged to bring handmade signs, wear bright colors to stand out easily seen from a distance.

Prior to the protest, an announcement of the event on social media drew mixed reactions with some residents in support of the protest and others in support of the increased tax revenue the centers would likely bring to the city and county government.

In November of 2025,  the Vicksburg-Warren Economic Development Partnership announced AWS—the world’s most comprehensive and widely adopted cloud platform—would locate the new data center to the county. The project represents a $3 billion capital investment, making it the largest in Warren County’s history, and is expected to create at least 200 new high-tech direct jobs and an estimated 500 additional indirect jobs across the region.

The decision to locate in Vicksburg comes after over two and a half years of work by state and local economic development and government officials who, along with Entergy Mississippi, worked with AWS to support their site selection process. Vicksburg and Warren County’s pro- business environment, the availability of sites in the area, and Entergy Mississippi’s commitment to meeting long-term power requirements were among the factors that helped Vicksburg and Warren County win the project.

Some locals argue the centers will increase energy and water costs in addition to causing an increased risk of health. In other states and locations other data centers have been involved in lawsuits.

According to The Environmental Health Project data centers can cause noise pollution, light pollution, air pollution, waste water issues and and increase in utilities.

Entergy Mississippi has addressed the issue of rising electric costs and CEO Haley Fisackerly said the company has taken measures to partner with AWS and the increased cost will be passed to the data center through a carefully constructed contract between the two campaniles and the state of Mississippi.