Environmental Concerns Rise as Georgia Data Centers Multiply

As Georgia becomes one of the nation’s fastest-growing data center hubs, communities and environmental groups warn of mounting risks to water supplies, wildlife habitat and the electric grid.

In rural Twiggs County, residents are fighting a proposed data center complex they say could overwhelm limited water resources and reshape the local landscape. Nancy Lubeck told Georgia News Connection that county leaders have not provided basic information about how much water or electricity the facility would require.

“Nobody really seems to know the impact of the water and the electrical,” Lubeck said.

Residents are asking for a delay and for independent studies on water demand, grid impacts and community health. They have also filed a lawsuit challenging the rezoning — arguing the public was not properly notified and that required transportation reviews were missing.

The proposed facility borders the Ocmulgee corridor, an area under consideration for national park status and home to Georgia’s most isolated black bear population. Lubeck said constant noise and lighting could drive the animals out.

“This may be the beginning of the end for the bears,” she told Georgia News Connection.

Concerns reach beyond rural counties. In Fayette County, residents protested newly installed high-voltage transmission lines built to serve a hyperscale data center.

Georgia Power’s Expanding Role

The Ledger-Enquirer reported that data center growth is also reshaping Georgia Power’s long-term energy planning. The utility has told state regulators that rising electricity demand from hyperscale data centers is contributing to its push for new natural gas units, expanded transmission corridors and major grid upgrades.

In Fayette County, residents told the Columbus newspaper that Georgia Power used eminent domain to place steel transmission poles through established neighborhoods to connect a QTS data center, clearing trees and lowering property values.

While residents confront local impacts, the statewide scale of development remains hard to track. The Ledger-Enquirer reported that estimates place Georgia’s data center count between 100 and 160, with many details shielded by nondisclosure agreements. Research cited by the paper found that Georgia is now the nation’s fastest-growing data center market.

Growth accelerated after a 2018 state tax exemption for data center equipment and property tax abatements, later extended to 2031. An effort to suspend the incentives in 2024 passed the legislature but was vetoed by Gov. Brian Kemp.

Undeterred, House Speaker Jon Burns created a special resource committee to study the effects of data centers on water and energy systems. State officials told the Ledger-Enquirer that transparency improvements are on the way.

The Department of Community Affairs plans to create a dedicated category for data centers in the state’s Development of Regional Impact review process. The new rule is expected Nov. 20.