Data Centers in Georgia

A data center is a building or campus filled with computer servers and the equipment needed to keep them connected, powered, secure, and cool. It stores and processes digital information and delivers it through high-speed networks.

When you stream a movie, save a photo to the cloud, join a video call, use online banking, search the internet, or use an artificial intelligence tool, some of that activity takes place in a data center. The visible building is only one part of the facility. A large project may also include substations, transmission lines, cooling equipment, water and sewer connections, backup generators, fuel storage, security infrastructure, and fiber-optic lines.

What Are the Main Types of Data Centers?

Industry labels overlap, but five categories can help a community understand what may be proposed:

• Enterprise data center: Built or operated primarily for one company’s own technology needs.

• Colocation data center: Provides secure space, power, cooling, and network connections to multiple customers that install or lease computing equipment inside.

• Cloud data center: Supports cloud-computing services used by businesses, governments, and individuals. It may be owned by a major cloud provider or housed in a colocation facility.

• Hyperscale data center: A very large facility or campus designed to add computing capacity rapidly. Hyperscale describes size and operating model, not necessarily a separate use.

• Edge data center: A smaller facility located closer to users or connected devices so information can travel with less delay.

Some facilities are designed for artificial intelligence or other high-performance computing. These are not always a separate ownership category, but their densely packed equipment may require much more power and cooling per square foot than a conventional facility.

Questions to Ask

• Ask what kind of computing the project is designed to support and whether its expected energy or water demand could change as equipment is added.

Who Owns and Operates Data Centers?

The landowner, developer, building owner, operator, utility customer, and technology company using the computers may all be different entities. Some projects are built to serve the computing needs of the owner or operator. Other projects are designed to serve third parties, who may rent all or some of the computing power from the facility. A project may also be developed in phases or built before every future tenant is known, and that distinction matters. The company appearing on a rezoning application may not be the company that will ultimately operate the facility or make commitments about energy, water, jobs or community benefits.

Questions to Ask

• Ask for the legal name and role of every known party, and which entity will remain accountable after construction.

Why Is Georgia Seeing So Much Data Center Growth?

Georgia has emerged as one of the nation’s fastest-growing data center markets, driven by metro Atlanta’s extensive fiber network, available land, and energy infrastructure. As demand for artificial intelligence and cloud computing accelerates, data center development is expanding across the state, bringing significant decisions about energy, water, land use, and economic growth to more Georgia communities.

The scale of a proposed data center is important. In a May 2026 public filing, Georgia Power reported commitments from 31 large-load customers totaling 12,400 megawatts through the mid-2030s. For context, according to Science for Georgia, these proposed data centers will demand enough electricity to power every single home in the state of Georgia, with enough energy left over to power another million homes out of state.

As of March 31, 2026, 21 of these had broken ground, and 10 were online. “Large-load” includes, but is not limited to, data centers, and a broader project pipeline is not the same as a list of projects certain to be built. Still, it shows why Georgia’s energy planning is changing quickly.

Questions to Ask

• What is the project’s current status? Is the announced tenant committed, and if so, for how long? Will it be developed in phases? What would the full buildout (not just the first building) require?

Computer equipment produces heat. Data centers rely on water-based cooling systems to remove that heat so servers can operate reliably. Some systems evaporate water through cooling towers; some use outside air, closed-loop liquid systems, or mechanical chillers; and some combine methods depending on temperature and humidity.

Water can also be used indirectly. Electricity generation may consume water even when the data center itself uses little on-site. For that reason, a complete assessment considers both on-site water and water associated with the power supply.

How Much Water Does a Data Center Use?

There is no single answer. Water use can range from relatively limited to millions of gallons per day depending on the facility’s size, computing load, cooling technology, local weather, operating schedule, and water source.

The University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences reports that a medium-sized facility can use up to about 300,000 gallons per day for cooling; similar to the amount of water used daily by 1,000 average American homes. Some very large facilities can use up to 5 million gallons per day. Those figures are useful for understanding possible scale, not for predicting a specific Georgia project. A developer should provide project-specific estimates for average use, peak summer use, and full buildout.

It is important to understand what type of cooling systems will be used at a data center, as that impacts how efficiently water is used and potentially re-used. Importantly, unlike the average American home, data centers may not return used water back to the local water table, but instead, the water may largely evaporate. This can be problematic, particularly during periods of drought, if no contingency plans are in place or if alternative cooling methods are not available. Reporting and transparency are key to understanding data center water use over time.

Water impacts are local. Even if data centers account for a small share of water use nationally, a large withdrawal can matter in a community with limited treatment capacity, private wells, agricultural demand, sensitive streams, saltwater intrusion, or drought risk.

Which Cooling Methods Use Less Water?

Air-cooled or “dry” systems generally use less on-site water than evaporative systems, but they may use more electricity during hot weather. Closed-loop systems recirculate coolant and can reduce ongoing water demand. Hybrid systems switch among methods. Some facilities use reclaimed wastewater instead of drinking water.

No single technology is best for every location. It depends on how the design performs in Georgia’s heat and humidity, during drought, and at the project’s expected computing density.

Could a Data Center Affect Drinking Water or Private Wells During a Drought?

It could, depending on the water source, withdrawal volume, available supply, system capacity, and drought plan. A facility served by an existing public water system presents different questions from one drawing directly from groundwater or surface water. The same is true for a facility using potable water versus reclaimed water.

Georgia generally requires a permit from the Environmental Protection Division (EPD) for surface-water or groundwater withdrawals exceeding 100,000 gallons per day on a monthly-average basis. A project supplied by a local utility may rely on that utility’s existing withdrawal permit rather than hold its own. That makes it important to ask the water provider directly how the new demand fits within permitted capacity and long-range plans.

Questions to Ask

• What are average, peak-day, and annual water demands for each project phase and full buildout?

• What cooling technology will be used, and what assumptions support the estimate?

• Will the facility use drinking water, groundwater, surface water, or reclaimed water?

• Does existing capacity cover the demand or will new facilities be needed?

• What analysis supports the water-demand and supply-capacity estimates, who prepared or reviewed it, and is it public?

• Where will discharge go, and could it affect nearby areas?

Electricity demand varies enormously. A small edge facility may use only a fraction of a megawatt while a hyperscale or artificial-intelligence campus can seek hundreds of megawatts or more as it is built out.

One megawatt is one million watts of electrical capacity. Comparisons to “the number of homes” can help communicate scale, but they should be labeled carefully: a data center can operate around the clock, while a home’s demand rises and falls. Ask for both megawatts, which describe peak capacity, and megawatt-hours, which describe energy used over time.

Nationally, data centers used an estimated 4.4% of U.S. electricity in 2023. A U.S. Department of Energy-supported analysis projected that share could reach roughly 6.7% to 12% by 2028. Georgia’s actual outcome will depend on which proposed projects materialize, when they connect, and how utilities add or manage supply.

Where Will the Electricity Come From?

The answer depends on the electric utility serving the site and the resources supplying its system. Georgia’s electricity comes from a diverse mix led by natural gas and nuclear power, with coal continuing to play a role. Solar is the state’s fastest-growing renewable resource, supplemented by hydropower and smaller amounts of biomass and wind energy.

A data center may be served by Georgia Power, an electric membership corporation or a municipal utility. Electricity delivered through the grid comes from the utility’s overall portfolio unless a specific program or contract links the customer to additional resources or renewable-energy attributes.

In December 2025, the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) approved a Georgia Power resource agreement totaling 9,885 megawatts, much of it intended to serve new large customers such as data centers. The portfolio includes different resource types. Communities should look beyond a company’s broad sustainability goal and ask which resources, contracts and timelines are tied to the Georgia facility.

What New Infrastructure Will Be Required to Serve the Data Center?

Some data centers can be served by existing energy and utility infrastructure. However, most new data centers require specific infrastructure projects to meet their energy needs. These projects may include new substations, which may be built on the data center property or nearby. These projects may also include new transmission lines. If new electricity infrastructure may be required to accommodate the data center project, the utility serving that project may have the right to exercise eminent domain. Eminent domain allows a utility to take land from private landowners (and pay them the fair value of that land) in order to build necessary utility infrastructure.

Who Pays for Power Plants, Transmission Lines, and Substations?

The answer is set through utility rules, customer contracts, and regulatory decisions. Georgia Power states that new users of 100 megawatts or more may be are subject to requirements that can include paying for necessary infrastructure, 15- to 25-year contracts, minimum monthly bills, collateral, and early-termination payments. The Georgia PSC reviews Georgia Power rules and long-range resource plans.

Those protections are important, but residents can still ask how costs and risks are allocated if demand arrives later than expected, a facility uses less power than projected, or utility assets remain after a customer leaves. Customers served by an EMC or municipal utility may operate under different arrangements.

Will Backup Diesel Generators Operate Near Homes?

Most large data centers install generators to maintain operations during a grid outage. Generators also run for testing and maintenance and, depending on permits and operating plans, may run at other times. They can create short-term noise and emissions, including nitrogen oxides and fine-particle pollution.

The number and size of those generators matter: Georgia EPD has issued or reviewed data center permits ranging from dozens to more than 100 large standby generators. Air-permit requirements depend on the equipment, fuel, potential emissions and operating limits. Permit documents can show generator counts, testing limits, and pollution controls.

Questions to Ask:

• What is the requested capacity at opening and full buildout?

• Which utility will serve the site, and what pipeline, generation, transmission, and substation additions are expected? Will any of those projects be built outside the data center property?

• What assurances can be offered about how infrastructure projects in the broader community may impact private land?

• Who pays if infrastructure is built but the projected demand does not materialize?

• What contract protections apply to existing customers?

• How could the project affect electric reliability for existing customers?

• How many backup generators are planned, and what fuel will they use?

• Will the project use batteries or other lower-emission backup and grid-support technologies?

• Does the project require a Georgia EPD air permit? Has an application or draft permit been published, what is its application or permit number, and when does the public comment period close?

• Will actual annual electricity use and generator operating hours be publicly reported?

Yes, data centers could bring more renewable energy to Georgia if new clean-energy resources and measurable commitments are part of the project’s energy plan. Georgia has emerged as a national leader in solar deployment and is now making significant investments in battery storage, building on more than 3,000 megawatts of solar capacity with major storage projects underway across the state.

A large, long-term electricity customer can create demand and provide financial support for new solar, battery storage, energy efficiency and grid upgrades. But a corporate renewable-energy goal does not automatically mean the Georgia facility will be powered by new Georgia resources at the hours it operates.

What Is a Customer-Identified Resource Agreement?

Georgia Power’s Clean and Renewable Energy Subscription-Customer Identified Resource program, known as CARES CIR, allows an eligible commercial or industrial customer to identify a proposed renewable-energy project and subscribe to it through Georgia Power, subject to program and economic requirements.

Under the current program, eligible customers may subscribe for up to 100% of annual energy use. The minimum customer agreement is 10 years, and Georgia Power retires the associated renewable-energy credits for participating customers. The program includes utility-scale resources and a distributed-generation option. It creates a pathway for a large customer to help bring forward an additional renewable project, but does not function as a direct physical wire from a solar farm to a data center.

What Is Demand Response, and Could a Data Center Participate?

Demand response means reducing or shifting electricity use during periods when the grid is especially constrained or expensive. Some computing tasks can be moved to another hour or location. Batteries and on-site energy systems can also reduce grid demand for limited periods.

Data centers have strict reliability requirements, so flexibility will vary by workload and design. Communities and regulators can ask the developer and utility to quantify what portion of demand can be shifted, for how long, under what conditions, and with what verification.

What Would a Strong Clean Energy Commitment Look Like?

A strong clean energy commitment is specific, measurable, and enforceable. It might identify the amount and location of new solar or other carbon-free generation; include battery storage; establish a completion date; address hourly energy use; assign renewable-energy credits clearly; and require public progress reporting.

It should also consider land, habitat, farmland, and community effects associated with the energy resources themselves. Clean energy is not impact-free, and thoughtful siting remains important.

Questions to Ask:

• How much of the project’s annual and hourly use will be matched by new clean energy?

• Will the customer use CARES CIR or another approved utility program?

• Are solar and storage projects new, in Georgia, and connected on a schedule that matches the data center?

• Who owns and retires the renewable-energy credits?

• Can the facility reduce load during peak demand or grid emergencies?

• Are energy-efficiency, power-usage effectiveness, and carbon reporting commitments public?

Potential effects depend heavily on location, design, and operation. Common concerns include land clearing, streams and wetlands, stormwater, habitat fragmentation, energy-related emissions, heat island effect, backup-generator pollution, round-the-clock mechanical noise, lighting, water demand, and construction traffic.

The existence of a potential impact does not tell a community how large it will be. Site plans, technical studies, permits, enforceable limits, and ongoing monitoring are what turn a general concern into a project-specific answer.

Will a Data Center Increase Noise Nearby?

Cooling equipment, fans, transformers, and other mechanical systems can operate continuously. Backup generators add intermittent noise during testing or outages. Sound can behave differently at night and can include low-frequency components that ordinary descriptions such as “a hum” do not fully capture. A community may want to request that measurable property-line or receptor limits be set, confirm how sound will be monitored after opening, and require corrective action if limits are exceeded.

Questions to Ask:

• Does the project scope include an independent sound study that models the full buildout, nighttime conditions, simultaneous equipment operation, generator testing, and nearby homes, schools, and other sensitive locations?

Will a Data Center Affect Air Quality?

The computers themselves do not burn fuel, but backup generators and any on-site combustion equipment produce emissions. The facility’s electricity supply also has broader air-quality and climate effects depending on the generating resources used.

Georgia EPD administers state air permits under federal and state law. Public notices and draft permits may provide an opportunity to review proposed equipment, emissions limits, testing hours, and controls.

Questions to Ask:

• Have cumulative effects been considered if several facilities or other pollution sources are located nearby?

What Happens to Land, Streams, Wetlands, and Wildlife Habitat?

Large campuses can clear and grade hundreds of acres, add extensive roofs and pavement, and alter drainage. Effects depend on the site’s previous use, natural resources, and stormwater design. Development affecting federally regulated waters or wetlands may require authorization from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. Georgia and local requirements may also address stream buffers, erosion, sediment, and stormwater.

Questions to Ask:

• Does the project plan include maps showing streams, wetlands, floodplains, groundwater-recharge areas, tree canopy, habitat, and nearby protected land and identify how much land will be disturbed across every phase, not just the first building?

Are Communities with Existing Environmental Burdens Being Considered?

Equity begins with understanding who already lives with pollution, infrastructure gaps, high utility burdens, flood risk, or limited access to decision-makers. An equity review can compare the project’s potential effects and benefits across neighborhoods, including those from associated transmission lines, substations, generators, water infrastructure, and power generation.

Meaningful engagement should begin early, and include all impacted communities. Information should use accessible language, provide translation and disability access, and make technical materials available with enough time for public review.

Questions to Ask:

• Are members of all impacted communities included in conversations, early and often?

• What are the nearest homes, schools, healthcare facilities, and environmentally overburdened communities?

• Has the full buildout been evaluated for noise, air, water, stormwater, habitat, traffic, and light?

• Will independent baseline measurements be taken before construction?

• What limits, monitoring, public reporting, and complaint-response process will apply after opening?

• Who is responsible for correcting problems, and how will that obligation survive a sale or operator change?

Construction may bring noticeable short-term changes: clearing, blasting or grading, heavy truck traffic, road work, dust, and noise. Once operating, a data center usually creates less daily traffic than an office complex or warehouse of similar size, but neighbors may notice cooling noise, warmer temperatures, security lighting, electrical equipment, periodic generator tests, and new transmission or substation infrastructure.

The experience can vary significantly and depends on distance, topography, vegetation, facility design, and local conditions. A campus screened by setbacks and landforms can affect neighbors differently from one placed close to homes.

Do Data Centers Affect Nearby Property Values?

There is not enough consistent, Georgia-specific evidence that a data center will raise or lower the value of a particular property. Effects may depend on rezoning, proximity, visibility, noise, transmission infrastructure, local tax outcomes, and the surrounding real-estate market.

Be cautious with anyone offering a definitive, speculative property valuation.

Questions to Ask:

• Can the developer provide a project-specific land-use compatibility analysis, including screening and setbacks, and an explanation of how noise, lighting, and infrastructure will be managed?

• Does the proposed use comply with current zoning and align with the community’s adopted comprehensive plan and future land-use map?

How Far Away Is “Safe” to Live From a Data Center?

There is no universally accepted distance rule for data centers. Distance alone does not answer the question because facilities, equipment, terrain, and neighboring land uses differ. Compliance with a generic setback also does not guarantee that sound will be inaudible or that every impact has been addressed.

Communities can focus on measurable outcomes: nighttime noise at the nearest home, generator emissions and operating hours, lighting at the property line, emergency planning, setbacks from sensitive uses, and post-opening monitoring.

What Should Neighboring Communities Ask to See?

• A full-buildout site plan, including future phases

• Renderings and sight lines from nearby roads and homes

• Independent noise modeling for normal operations and time-bound generator testing

• Lighting, landscaping, and tree-preservation plans

• Construction hours, truck routes, and road-improvement plans

• Generator counts, fuel storage, and emergency-response plans

• A named contact and enforceable process for complaints and corrections

Data centers can bring large private capital investments, demand for local contractors, property tax revenue, and infrastructure development. They typically support fewer permanent on-site jobs than labor-intensive facilities of comparable size or investment.

The right comparison separates temporary construction jobs from permanent positions and distinguishes direct jobs from indirect or induced estimates. It also accounts for tax exemptions, abatements, public infrastructure costs, and the opportunity cost of the land and utility capacity.

What Kinds of Jobs Can a Data Center Create?

Construction can employ electricians, plumbers and pipe fitters, equipment operators, engineers, security teams, and other tradespeople for several years, especially on a phased campus. Permanent roles may include technicians, network and facilities staff, electricians, engineers, security, and administration.

Job totals vary by operating model.

Questions to Ask:

• Do jobs numbers refer to peak construction employment or permanent employees?

   

• What can the developer tell you about wages, benefits, local hiring, apprenticeships, vendor opportunities, and the expected number of workers on-site after the project is fully operational?

What Taxes or Incentives May Be Involved?

Georgia law provides a sales-and-use-tax exemption for qualifying high-technology data center equipment through a state-administered program. Qualification is tied to investment and quality-job requirements that vary with county population. A project may also receive local incentives, such as property-tax arrangements, infrastructure commitments, bonds, or other negotiated terms.

Gross tax-revenue announcements do not show the complete public balance sheet. Communities can ask for an independent fiscal impact analysis that identifies expected revenue by year, every exemption or abatement, public debt or infrastructure cost, service demands, and financial risk if the project is delayed, built at a smaller scale, or sold.

Who Pays for Roads, Water, Sewer, and Emergency Services?

It depends on local agreements and utility arrangements. Some improvements may be developer-funded; others may be financed or built by a public authority, utility, or local government. Even when a developer repays costs over time, the public entity may carry construction, financing, or performance risk.

Ask for the source of funds, ownership of the completed infrastructure, repayment schedule, guarantees, and the consequences if later phases are not built or if the project ends operations earlier than anticipated.

Also ask what road, intersection or access improvements the project will require, and who will pay to build, maintain, and replace them.

What Is a Community Benefits Agreement?

A Community Benefits Agreement, or CBA, is a negotiated agreement that outlines specific benefits or protections associated with a development. Depending on who signs it and how it is structured, it might address local hiring, workforce training, road improvements, water conservation, clean energy, noise controls, community investments, or reporting.

The label alone does not make a commitment strong. Important questions include who negotiated it, who is legally bound, who can enforce it, how performance is measured, whether the public can see results, and whether obligations transfer to a new owner or operator. Some commitments may instead be placed in zoning conditions, development agreements, permits, or utility contracts. Legal review is important.

Georgia WAND has developed a Statewide CBA Framework to help communities across Georgia secure legally enforceable protections, investments, and accountability when major development projects are proposed. If you are navigating a proposed development in your community, Georgia WAND can provide CBA strategy and guidance. You can access their CBA Framework on their website or email them at info@georgiawand.org to request support.

Questions to Ask:

• How many permanent full-time jobs will exist at full operation, at what wages, and with what benefits?

• How many construction jobs are expressed as workers versus job-years?

• What state and local taxes would be paid without incentives, and what is projected after incentives?

• What public infrastructure or financing is required, and who bears each risk?

• What local hiring, training, small-business, or community commitments are proposed?

• Which commitments are legally enforceable, publicly reported, and transferable to future owners?

There is no single statewide “data center permit.” Approval is usually a series of decisions at the local, regional, state, federal, and utility levels. The path depends on the site, local zoning, project size, water source, equipment, and environmental conditions.

Local government often has the central land-use role. A city or county may consider rezoning, a special- or conditional-use permit, annexation, variances, a development agreement, site-plan approval, land-disturbance and building permits, and water or sewer service. If the site already has compatible zoning, fewer decisions may require a public vote—one reason early research matters.

What Is a Development of Regional Impact Review?

Georgia’s Development of Regional Impact, or DRI, process is a communication and planning review for large projects whose effects may cross jurisdictional boundaries. It is not a state permit and does not approve or deny the development. Local governments retain their land-use authority.

Rules effective December 15, 2025 specifically classify technological facilities, including data centers, as a DRI category when a project is greater than 500,000 gross square feet or covers more than 200 acres. The same threshold applies in metropolitan and non-metropolitan tiers. Multi-phase projects may be considered cumulatively under the rules.

The host local government submits project information to its Regional Commission, which generally completes the DRI process within 30 days and shares a report with the local government and affected parties. Local review can occur at the same time, but the local government may not take final official action until the DRI process is complete and it has had time to consider the report.

A project below the threshold may still require significant local or environmental approvals. A DRI record is a valuable starting point, not a complete project file.

What Other Permits or Reviews Might Be Required?

Depending on the project, the list may include:

• Local rezoning, conditional-use, site-plan, land-disturbance, building, and infrastructure approvals

• DRI review through the appropriate Regional Commission

• Georgia Regional Transportation Authority review in applicable metro Atlanta jurisdictions

• Georgia EPD permits or approvals for water withdrawal, wastewater, construction stormwater, and air emissions

• Federal authorization for impacts to regulated wetlands or waters

• Utility studies, contracts, transmission connections, substations, and generation planning

• Road-access or right-of-way approvals from local governments or the Georgia Department of Transportation

Not every project needs every item. Ask the local planning department for a written list of required decisions, the agency responsible for each, and the expected opportunity for public notice or comment.

When Can the Public Weigh In?

Public participation most often occurs during local rezoning or conditional-use proceedings, planning commission meetings, city council or county commission meetings, and comment periods for certain environmental permits. A DRI review can also surface project information and comments from affected governments, although it is not itself a referendum.

The best opportunity may occur before a formal hearing, while a site plan, ordinance, or development agreement can still change. Sign up for local agendas and notices, check the DRI portal, and ask planning staff whether a pre-application meeting or application has occurred.

In some communities, data centers only surface as an issue for consideration once a project has already been proposed and approved, to one degree or another, for construction. Tech companies and local governments sometimes utilize non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to keep data center projects under the public radar during early negotiations. These confidential deals can conceal the true identity of the corporate buyer, along with projected consumption of local water and power resources, until projects are already greenlit.

But sound local development ordinances can help ensure that transparency and public participation are integral to the process from the beginning.  With that goal in mind, you can ask your local elected officials these questions BEFORE a data center project is proposed in your community:

• Are there any zoning districts in my city or county where data centers are permitted "by right," meaning no special use or other permit is required from the local government?

Zoning ordinances often include a table of permitted uses by zoning district and should show whether permission is by right or requires a permit. If data centers are currently permitted by right in any district, local officials can change this by amending their ordinance to require a permit and establish conditions for obtaining one.

• If data centers are not permitted by right, does obtaining a permit require a public hearing or other informational meeting before issuing a permit?

If a hearing or other public meeting is required, find out how these meetings are publicized and monitor that space.

If a hearing or public meeting is not required, the transparency of the zoning process can be improved by requiring a public hearing and/or additional public meetings before a permit is issued.

• If your local ordinances require special permitting and public notice/comment for data center projects, find out what questions applicants must answer.

The list of the 10 Most Important Questions to Ask (see the second to last menu item below or download as a PDF) is a good reference point to ensure applicants address potential impacts and provide communities with an opportunity to understand the effects a proposal will have on their city or county. 

The Energy Policy and Innovation Center (EPICenter) at Georgia Tech hosts and maintains a robust reference of local ordinance examples from across Georgia and other states in their Georgia Data Center Ordinance Hub. The hub is organized around five major thematic areas that collectively provide a framework local governments and community activists can use to assess the completeness of their local ordinances:

• Site Planning & Building Design

• Infrastructure & Utilities

• Environmental & Community Protections

• Public Safety & Security

• Lifecycle Governance

Start by learning what decision is actually pending, who has authority over it, and when the public record will close. Effective engagement is specific, factual, and connected to the standards the decision-maker must apply.

How Do I Find Out Whether a Data Center Is Proposed in My Community?

Start with these public sources:

1. Search the Georgia DCA DRI portal by county and project type.

2. Check the city or county planning department’s rezoning, special-use, annexation, and development records.

3. Review planning commission, city council, and county commission agendas and minutes.

4. Search Georgia EPD public notices for air, water, and wastewater actions.

5. Ask the local economic-development authority about land transactions, bonds, incentives, or infrastructure agreements that are public records.

6. Ask the electric and water utilities whether service requests or infrastructure decisions have been publicly disclosed.

Project names can change, and applications may be filed by a limited-liability company rather than a familiar technology brand. Search the property address, parcel number, applicant, landowner, and related company names.

Which Meetings Should I Attend?

The relevant meetings may include a neighborhood information session, planning commission hearing, zoning board meeting, city council or county commission meeting, development-authority meeting, utility or PSC proceeding, and state environmental-permit hearing.

Before attending, read the agenda and staff report. Determine whether the meeting is informational, a formal public hearing, or the final vote. Rules for speaking and submitting written comments vary.

How Can I Ask Questions That Produce Useful Answers?

Ask for a number, document, responsible party, and deadline whenever possible. Using the questions in this toolkit will help you seek out specific, verifiable information.

If information is unavailable, ask when it will be provided and whether the decision can be made responsibly without it. Separate what the developer promises to pursue from what an agreement or permit requires.

What Records Should I Request?

Useful records may include the application, full-buildout site plan, traffic study, noise study, water-demand analysis, utility-capacity correspondence, fiscal-impact analysis, incentive term sheet, development agreement, staff report, DRI materials, environmental applications, and draft permit conditions.

Georgia’s Open Records Act may provide access to existing public records, subject to legal exemptions. A request is more useful when it identifies the agency, project, date range, and types of records sought. It cannot require an agency to create a new analysis that does not exist.

How Can a Community Stay Engaged After Approval?

Approval is not the end of the process. Track whether conditions are incorporated into final documents, whether permits are issued, whether the site plan changes, and whether required reports are published. Identify the local official or department responsible for enforcement and the process for reporting noise, dust, traffic, water, or other concerns.

Communities can ask for periodic public reporting on construction progress, permanent jobs, energy and water use, generator operation, environmental monitoring and community commitments while recognizing that some utility or business information may be treated as confidential.

These ten questions provide a strong starting point. The goal is not to predetermine the answer, but to ensure that decision-makers and residents are evaluating the same complete project.

1. What is the project at full buildout? Ask for total acreage, buildings, square footage, phases, intended computing use, tenant status, and timeline beyond the first phase. Find out if the facility complies with current zoning and the local comprehensive plan, or if it will require annexation, rezoning, or special permitting. Do the size and location cause the project to qualify as a Development of Regional Impact (DRI)?
   
2. How much electricity will it require? Request peak demand and annual energy use at opening and full buildout, along with the serving utility and related generation, transmission, or substation needs, both on and off the property. Find out if the local grid can support the project without raising outage risk or costs for existing customers.
3. Who pays for new infrastructure and who holds the risk? Identify who funds new infrastructure and what contracts, minimum payments, collateral, and termination obligations protect other customers. Will any of it involve eminent domain?
4. How much water will it use? Request average, peak-day, and annual demand; water source; cooling technology; wastewater plan; and operations during extreme heat or drought. Ask if the capacity of the water source supplying the facility has been independently verified.
5. How will the project support clean energy and efficiency? Ask if the developer will commit to new solar or other climate solutions like battery storage, energy efficiency, renewable-energy credits, and the ability to reduce demand when the grid is stressed.
6. What will nearby residents experience? Address construction, noise, use of diesel generators, air emissions, lighting, traffic, setbacks, landscaping, and the process for resolving complaints. Ask how water use, energy use, emissions, and noise will be monitored after approval, what happens if the facility expands, exceeds its projections, or changes ownership, and how the community can contact the facility with concerns during construction and during operation.
7. How will air, land, and water resources be protected? Will the project be regulated under the Clean Water Act or require permits from Georgia EPD? If so, what is the status? Review streams, wetlands, floodplains, habitat, tree clearing, impervious surface, stormwater, and mitigation across every phase.
8. What is the complete public financial picture? Compare permanent jobs and expected tax revenue with incentives, abatements, infrastructure spending, financing obligations, and public-service costs.
9. Which commitments are enforceable—and by whom? Identify where the public can access each promise, who monitors it, what must be reported (such as annual water and electricity use), what happens if it is not met, and whether it transfers to a future owner. Find out if there is an enforceable Community Benefit Agreement already in place, and what specific commitments it includes.
10. When and how can the public participate? List every remaining decision, responsible agency or governing body, public meeting or comment deadline, and location of the public record.

Start Here: Understand the Basics

Science for Georgia offers a Georgia-specific data center organizing toolkit for communities, data, a live map of data center projects statewide, and other helpful resources.

• Email: info@Sci4GA.org
• Phone: (470) 705-1661

UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) Georgia-specific research on how data centers affect surface water and groundwater.

• Water Q&A: fieldreport.caes.uga.edu/publications/TP121
• Phone: (706) 542-3924

Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) provides a state-published fact sheet on data centers and utility rate impacts.

• Phone: (404) 656-4501 or toll-free 1-800-282-5813

Zoning, Permitting & Legal Guidance

Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) Recommended first call for communities that need legal guidance on zoning, Community Benefit Agreement language, or permitting challenges. Provides free guidance to communities and environmental advocates; not a developer-side firm. Publisher of the report "Getting It Right: Local Approaches to Data Center Development."

• Report: selc.org/resource/getting-it-right-local-approaches-to-data-center-development
• Phone (Atlanta office): (404) 521-9900

Georgia Data Center Ordinance Hub (EPIcenter, Georgia Tech) Interactive, side-by-side comparison of data center land-use ordinances across roughly 180 Georgia jurisdictions. Useful for any community drafting or evaluating its own ordinance.

• Web: epicenter.energy.gatech.edu/data-center

Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) Development of Regional Impact (DRI) Process The state process that reviews large-scale developments, including many data centers, for regional impact. Communities should contact their Regional Commission directly to check DRI status or ask process questions.

• DRI FAQs: dca.georgia.gov/developments-regional-impact-dri-faqs

Georgia EPD Watershed Protection Branch
Issues water withdrawal permits and leads regional water supply planning; the agency to contact about water availability, permit applications, and water quality data for a proposed data center site.

• Regional water planning: waterplanning.georgia.gov
• Phone: (404) 463-1511
• Environmental complaint line: (800) 241-4113

Local Government Planning Support

Association County Commissioners of Georgia Best-practice sheets and conference resources for county officials, including "15 Best Practices for Counties Considering Data Centers." Primarily oriented toward county government members. 

Digital First Communities (Georgia Tech Center for Economic Development Research)

A facilitated planning program that helps local governments prepare for data center development before a developer arrives, including tax digest impact analysis and community listening sessions.

National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) — Data Center Fundamentals for EDD Staff Offers a national report written for Economic Development District (EDD) staff, covering data center basics, local and regional impacts, and the roles EDDs can play: advising communities, convening regional planning, offering zoning guidance, and supporting workforce initiatives.

• Phone: (202) 921-4440

Tax Incentives & Economic Data

Georgia Department of Revenue - High-Technology Data Center Equipment Exemption Administers Georgia's sales and use tax exemption for qualifying data center equipment purchases, which requires the data center to meet minimum investment and job-creation thresholds and file annual reports. DOR also publishes a county-by-county breakdown of aggregate expenditures claimed under the exemption, a useful way for a community to check actual investment against what was promised.

• County-level exemption data: dor.georgia.gov/data-centers-sales-use-tax-exemption-aggregate-expenditures-county
• Phone (Taxpayer Services): (877) 423-6711

Negotiating Community Benefits

Georgia WAND (Women's Action for New Directions) Education Fund Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) framework and guidance for communities negotiating with developers.

• Email: info@georgiawand.org
• Phone: (404) 524-5999

Utility Rates & Ratepayer Protection

Georgia PSC Public Interest Advocacy Staff & Consumer Affairs Represents residential and small commercial ratepayers in proceedings before the PSC; Consumer Affairs staff answers questions about bills and rate impacts.

• Phone: (404) 656-4501 or toll-free 1-800-282-5813