UPDATE: No chants. No shouting. Just signs and a steady stream of people walking through the city of Cleveland.
Dozens of residents gathered Sunday evening to show their opposition to an $11.3 billion energy campus proposal known as Project River.
The protest was organized by Cleveland resident, Isaiah Bayliss, who says he wanted to turn the growing online conversation into something people could see in person.
“I wanted to organize something where we can kind of be seen and not heard,” Bayliss said. “It’s just a show of numbers to let people know, raise more awareness, and kind of have a polite, respectful, organized group just working together.”
From teens to people in their 80s, the demonstration brought people of all ages together.
“This proposed project… it doesn’t care if you’re young or old, doesn’t care which side of the political parties you’re aligned with. This is something that’s going to have a big impact on the area, and so I just wanted to see an organized group of people come together,” Bayliss said.
Another protestor, Debbie Bise, says she has a personal connection to the 850-acre plot of land the proposed campus would be built on near Lower River Road in Charleston.
She is concerned about the potential negative impacts Project River could have on the environment and the Hiwassee River.
“The river situation is already hectic out there now,” Bise said. “You put nine barges per day, going right past our property and the BNB Marina up that river. Where are you going to fish? Where are you going to boat? Where are you going to do jet skiing?”
Developers behind Project River say the proposal is about more than just an energy campus, but a way to bring in millions of dollars of revenue and hundreds of jobs to Bradley County, helping advance the growing region.
“Here in Bradley County, we’ve got the opportunity to tie it all together with this, you know, energy and technology campus,” said Mitchell Simpson, President and CEO of Wright Brothers Construction. “We’re not trying to hide behind it. It very well could be a data center, but we also need to recognize that we could have advanced manufacturing here.”
In the meantime, Project River developers still have to go through zoning changes and ecological surveys before the county approves plans.
But protesters say they want more answers before that happens.
For the protesters, the message is simple: They want to be seen and they want county leaders and developers to pay attention.
PREVIOUS STORY: State Sen. Adam Lowe is weighing in on the proposed Project River development in Bradley County following a community meeting Tuesday night.
Lowe, whose district includes Bradley County, shared his thoughts on the project online, addressing concerns surrounding the possibility of a data center being part of the proposed 850-acre industrial campus.
Protest organizers say they are concerned about the environmental impact of Project River. https://www.local3news.com/local-news/update-public-wright-brothers-project-river-meeting-leaves-no-room-for-public-input-on-possible/article_d65a0607-ea98-4e70-9cec-ce4299d2fb45.html
While many community members have expressed opposition to a potential data center, Lowe said he believes data centers are becoming a necessary national security asset moving forward.
Lowe also addressed the project from his perspective as a constituent who lives near the proposed development.
He said that as long as the project remains on private property and is developed lawfully, state officials do not have the authority to stop it from moving forward.
Wright Brothers Construction has said there is currently no contract with a data center customer. However, the company has acknowledged the campus was designed with a data center in mind.
PREVIOUS STORY: A frustrated crowd gathered in Cleveland Tuesday night.
Wright Brothers Construction held a public meeting to answer questions the public had pertaining to Project River.
The company announced Project River last week. It would be an Industrial plant stretching over 850 acres of Bradley County, creating biomass and gas. The campus has one spot saved for an industrial power customer.
Developers of the project say they don’t yet have a contract with an industrial power customer. However, the plant was designed with a data center in mind, and that is the most likely option.
Before the meeting, project developers asked for the attendees to submit questions online. Once the question panel was underway, a moderator, also picked by the developers, selected the questions that would be asked.
And some questions did not receive a full answer.
“How many truckloads per day and per hour at peak? What routes do they use, and can the existing roads carry that volume?” Moderator Jamie Creekmore asked the panel.
“Total truckloads per day, if everything came in via truck, would be somewhere between 380 and 500 truckloads a day,” said Andrew Thompson, a spokesperson for power plant developer Azure Energy.
At no point in time during the meeting was there an actual opportunity for those in attendance to chime in.
Some spectators told Local 3 they felt the questions that were asked may have been preplanned, and other questions were outright ignored.
Because the forum did not allot time for public input, the audience resorted to chants and yells.
Anna Galloday, a democratic candidate for Congress, was also in attendance and shared the public’s frustrations.
“A forum like this actually makes it seem as though the community doesn’t matter because the only way the community is being heard is through the yelling, and that all that creates is anxiety for those guys on the stage because they don’t feel like they’re being listened to, and anxiety for the people in the chairs because they aren’t being listened to. Neither one of those solutions is the right solution,” Galloday said.
Local 3 has reached out to Congressman Chuck Fleischmann, Galloday’s opponent in the upcoming election, to hear his stance on the project and the meeting. Local 3 News will keep you updated with his response.
PREVIOUS STORY: Bradley County is hosting a public meeting on Tuesday evening, September 1, regarding “Project River.”
Proposed in August, Project River would be an industrial campus built on 850 acres.
Rumors about a data center coming to the county began earlier this year, but city officials denied the claims and put strict zoning regulations in place.
However, at the end of August, Wright Brothers Construction publicly announced Project River. President and CEO of the company, Mitchell Simpson, told us that this campus could become home to a data center.
“We are not trying to hide behind it. It very well could be a data center, but we also need to recognize we could have advanced manufacturing, we could have a robotics plant, we could have semiconductor manufacturing. We are going to develop the power, and then we will determine who the off-taker will be,” Simpson said.
While a data center is not set in stone, developers say it is a likely possibility.
The public meeting is set to begin at 6:00pm on Tuesday, giving the public a chance to discuss the project directly with developers.
PREVIOUS STORY: Some Bradley County residents are speaking out about a proposed $11.3 billion industrial campus in Bradley County announced Wednesday, August 26, 2026.
‘Project River’ would create a power plant fueled entirely by itself off of natural gas and biomass from forests. Developers say it would generate up to 1,500 MW of its own electricity to power a heavy industrial plant or a data center.
Developers say there are no current plans to create an on-site data center at this time, but that the ability to sustain one is there.
Property owners, the Wright Family and its leaders, spoke to Local 3 News Wednesday.
Project River is proposed for construction on an 850-acre parcel of land that is privately owned by the Wright family.
“I would just say that this site is bigger than just a potential data center. What you are looking at is an industrial energy campus… The industrial energy process, let’s just talk through that. We are looking at 500 MW of biomass power. We are looking at 1,000 MW of gas, and that is the direct power that will feed whomever the off-taker is, whether it be in advanced manufacturing, a semiconductor plant, or a data center,” said Lukas Salyer, the President of Wright Industrial Group, and Mitchell Simpson, the President and CEO of Wright Brothers.
“What makes us different, and to educate you on how we would impact you, most data centers would pull power off of the grid. That would come to them, and it would be from a customer just like you, so that is the first difference. We are our own customer. We are making our own power behind the meter. We are making our own processed water… This is renewable energy,” the leaders added.
However, despite easing some of the county’s rumors about the construction of a data center in the future, residents like Jon Ellis said he is not on board with the proposal.
“I grew up here. My family has owned this land since after World War II; that was the first time my grandfather bought a farm in this area… I heard of Project River this morning when everybody else heard about it. The talk of what was going to happen has been happening for just about a month. What was really concerning was the rumor mill that was coming from the people in the ‘know’ in our area; it lined up exactly with what Project River has announced. This is something that has been in the works for years and has been going on behind closed doors, behind our back,” said Jon Ellis, a property owner in Bradley County.
Ellis told Local 3 News his property would neighbor the proposed site in three areas. He shared he opposes the project for several reasons, including environmental impacts and noise levels.
“We will oppose this annexation and this development every step of the way as long as there is a square inch of land to fight for. There are four major agricultural properties that surround this. There is a church. There are untold residences. There are businesses. It’s a lot more than just people’s individual farms. I’m concerned on every front,” said Ellis.
Ellis also shared his concerns about transparency within the county.
“I think it’s a shame that as much pride as people have invested in this area, something like this could be carried out to this extent. The residents just became aware of this,” said Ellis.
Bradley County Mayor Gary Davis shared his thoughts on Project River and the concerns about transparency on Wednesday:
“I’ve tried throughout this entire discussion to lead with transparency and facts, even when it would have been easier, and probably smarter politically, to simply say nothing and avoid the criticism that comes with speaking publicly about a difficult issue. But transparency shouldn’t only matter when it’s easy or convenient. I spoke up in April when Bradley County took steps to put safeguards around data centers, and again when the recent annexation request raised new questions. I’ve been accused of not being transparent, but I can only be transparent about what I actually know to be fact; I’m not going to fill in the gaps with rumors or speculation just to have something to say. While decisions about this particular property may ultimately rest with City of Cleveland leaders, I’m still a neighbor and member of this community, and I care about what happens here. I know this post will bring strong opinions, but I hope everyone will read the entire statement, stay engaged, and respond to what is actually being said rather than simply reacting in the comments.
For clarity, the approximately 850 acres associated with Project River are separate from the approximately 385 acres previously discussed and requested for annexation into the City of Cleveland for commercial development that I referenced a few weeks ago; these are two different properties.
Today, more is now known about the proposed development on the north end of Bradley County.
What has been presented appears to be an innovative approach that is intentionally designed to address many of the concerns our community has raised about traditional data center development. At the same time, a presentation is only the beginning of the process, not the end of it. There are still questions to answer, details to understand, and claims that will need to be demonstrated and verified.
For transparency, I was made aware of today’s announcement only recently, as a courtesy so I would not be caught off guard when it was announced. Before that, I was aware of the same general rumors and speculation many others had heard, but I did not have specific information about this project or the Wright family’s plans for this property. I have not been involved in developing or negotiating the project or working behind the scenes to move it forward, and neither I nor Bradley County was asked to approve or provide anything for today’s announcement.
We should not dismiss the concerns that have been raised by people who live in this community. We have heard those concerns clearly, and they were part of the reason Bradley County took action this spring to put additional safeguards and regulations in place. This project is being presented as something significantly different, including a self-powered campus designed to address some of the concerns associated with traditional data centers. If it ultimately performs the way it is being presented, there could be significant benefits to our community, including jobs, investment, and potentially new opportunities for our regional logging and timber industry. But those benefits, including the financial projections, need to be verified as the process moves forward. We now have more facts about this proposed development, but there are still unknowns. I encourage everyone to keep learning. Stay involved. Ask hard questions. And most importantly, stay focused on the facts. I intend to do the same. We don’t need to decide today that everything about this project is good, and we don’t need to decide that everything about it is bad. We need to evaluate what is actually proposed, hold everyone involved accountable for what is being promised, and make sure that what is ultimately built is responsible for Bradley County and the people who call it home.”
As of now, the 850-acre plot of land is still zoned for farming and agricultural use. The county would need to approve its annexation and change its zone before the project could go forward. Developers would also have to pass ecological and geological surveys before construction.
There are two community meetings held by the developers of Project River.
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September 1, 2026- 6:00 – 8:00 pm at PIE Center, 2337 Parker St. NW, Cleveland
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September 12, 2026- 10:00 am – 12:00 pm at PIE Center, 2337 Parker St. NW, Cleveland
Local 3 News reached out to TVA to learn what an energy campus like the one proposed in Bradley County would mean for TVA and if they would work together. A spokesperson for TVA sent this statement:
“We can confirm that TVA is conducting an interconnection study to determine cost, scope and timelines. TVA works with customers with on‑site energy resources to create new opportunities for integrated infrastructure development. Our focus is to identify collaboration models that strengthen grid resilience, support customer goals, and deliver mutual value across the Valley.”
PREVIOUS STORY: A new project, titled “Project River” could bring $11.3 billion in investments from an on-site power plant and data center in Bradley County.
The project is expected to be one of the largest private investments in the history of East Tennessee, and could restart the local forestry industry by reintroducing phased-in demand for locally grown timber.
Project River is proposed for construction on an 850-acre parcel of land that is privately owned by the Wright family, the founders and owners of Charleston-based Wright Brothers Construction Company, Inc.
The parcel, located west of I-75 and north of Old Lower River Road NW, was submitted for rezoning and incorporation into the City of Cleveland on Tuesday.
The large-scale data center will be self-powered, according to the news release, and not impact power bills or water bills for nearby residents.
Project River will be built in phases over the next 60 months/5 years.
“We live, work, and raise our families in this community, which is why we made sure to hire the best energy experts in America to ensure Project River would protect what makes Cleveland and Bradley County great while ensuring private investment would make our schools and public services better funded than ever,” Wright said in a news release Wednesday.
Project River is said to “generate tens of millions of dollars in annual public revenue for the City of Cleveland and Bradley County, funding local schools, roads, public libraries, municipal debt service, public works, and capital projects without raising taxes.”
To keep residents informed, they have created a website with additional information, and a dedicated team is available to answer your questions at www.projectriver.energy. You can also send an email to [email protected].
