Data Centers

Data centers are large windowless warehouses that store large computers and servers, and therefore, information. It is within these buildings that AI and the cloud "live." As demand for these services increases, these facilities are rapidly growing in number and size and using more and more of our power and water. A subset of data centers are cryptocurrency mines, which use computers and servers to obtain decentralized digital currency. Cryptocurrency mines are sometimes housed in mobile metal containers instead of brick-and-mortar buildings, which contributes to higher levels of noise pollution.

Fast Facts:

• 💡 They need a lot of POWER 💡
  • Current Data Centers in Georgia utilize more power than one of Plant Vogtle’s two new nuclear reactors. Current and planned data centers would utilize DOUBLE all of Plant Vogtle’s Output.
• 💦 They consume millions of gallons of WATER 💦
  • A large data center can use up to 200 million gallons of water annually, equivalent to about 2,000 homes.
• 🍃 They poison our AIR 🍃
  • An expected increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 36 percent or 1,014 million short tons, due to data centers.
• 👷 They create minimal jobs 👷
  • The average data center employs around 30 people. The average McDonald’s employs 50 people. 

Georgia is the fastest growing market for data centers in the U.S. These facilities are coming to the Peach State for a multitude of reasons, including availability of real estate, good fiber optic infrastructure, open access to the state’s supply of power and water, a willing partner in Georgia Power, and to sweeten the pot, a state tax break that allows data center owners to save millions of dollars. Many data centers are located in metro Atlanta, but massive, shopping-mall-sized facilities are being built across the state. To learn about data centers in your area, check out Science for Georgia’s map to find existing and planned data centers and crypto mines.

To mitigate the impact of data centers on our communities in Georgia, we need a community-centered approach grounded in transparency, accountability, and justice. Data centers want our power and water, we should ask that they be good neighbors in return. Coweta County, Douglas County, and Metro Atlanta have already begun putting restrictions on data centers at the local level. This toolkit will provide resources and steps you can take in your community to mobilize your neighbors and influence local legislation and ordinances. 

Step 1: Educate the community
Step 2: Talk to your local elected officials and attend public meetings
Step 3: Pass local ordinances and state-level legislation

Outreach and Advocacy Resources

Ask Your Local Elected Officials to Take On Data Centers - Use the form on the page linked here to send a message to your county commissioners and city council members (if you live in a city's limits) to ask them to pass local ordinances that will ensure data centers are good neighbors!

Talking points are an essential organizing tool when discussing with your community members and elected officials. The talking points below are tailored to how data centers can impact Georgia communities. All our printable resources can be found here.

Georgia Focused Talking Points:

💡 POWER 💡
More than 90% of Georgia Power’s projected increased energy demands over the next decade are to accommodate data centers. To meet the demand, Georgia Power plans to extend the life of coal plants and increase our reliance on methane gas, which ratepayers like yourself will pay for.

💦 WATER 💦
Data centers use a lot of water. The planned data centers in Georgia will use about as much water as all the residents of Athens-Clarke use annually.

📉 TAXES 📉
Georgia's existing and planned data centers can qualify for full exemption from sales and use taxes. Tax exemptions for two data center programs are estimated to cost $296 million in 2025.

🔊 NOISE 🔊
Residents report loud noise disruptions during construction and a loud hum from the cooling systems and backup generators once the facility is operational. Noise pollution causes sleep disturbances, heart issues, and anxiety. 

☔ NATURAL DISASTERS ☔
The strain on our power grid during extreme weather conditions like heat waves and hurricanes may lead to rolling blackouts in already struggling communities. Data centers draw about as much water as all the residents in their local communities. What happens during a drought? Who gets the water: people, crops, or computers? 

💵 JOBS 💵
Data centers only create about 30 jobs after​​ construction. These are not enough jobs in communities to justify the tax breaks they receive.

⚡ ENERGY BURDEN ⚡
Data centers are commonly built near minority and low-income communities. These communities already have a disproportionate amount of their income going to their power bills, with 43% of black households having a higher energy burden than white households.

It is important to ensure your community is organized when attending public meetings. Below are tips from us on how to prepare properly.

1. Connect with your community members before the meeting. Joining or creating a “private” Facebook group, Signal chat, Slack, etc. to organize & communicate with people in your community can be effective! You can also connect with organizers to host a meeting or zoom call to prepare. Share links to news stories about other communities and their actions on data centers.
2. Decide on a meeting location. Typically, this can be outside the building where the public meeting will occur.
3. Decide on attire that will make a statement. How will you and the local officials recognize you and the breadth of your support? This can include matching colors, pins, or hats.
4. Bring printable handouts! These resources can be handed out to other community members and elected officials who attend the meeting. Check out our template printable here: Data Center One-Pager Template.
5. Prepare public comment, if applicable! During public meetings, it is not uncommon for community members to be allowed to come to the podium and give comment and feedback on proposed actions. Public comment should be short and to the point, about 3-5 minutes. Check out our public comment guidance here: Public Comment Guidance.
6. Come prepared with questions! Data centers are currently not obligated to disclose their resource use, so it is essential to ask questions to help understand the impact they will have on your community. Here are some recommended questions for public meetings.
7. Invite the press! Especially if public comment is being taken, this is an excellent opportunity for community member’s voices to be amplified.
8. Be prepared to be in a room full of opponents. When heading into public meetings, it is common to be met with other groups and individuals who do not think the way you do. Be prepared and do your research beforehand, and do your best to foster conversation. Avoid taking swipes at opponents, this can waste valuable meeting  time and reinforce their position.
9. Follow up with everyone you meet! Send thank you’s to local elected officials, invite community members to your chat, Facebook group, or next meeting, and follow up with the press.

Data centers are coming online at such an alarming rate that it can be hard to keep up with what is false and what is true. We have gathered the most common misconceptions we have heard on the ground to keep you informed and aware.

🚫 Myth: Data centers create hundreds of jobs!
✅ Truth: The majority of jobs come from construction. When online, data centers employ fewer than McDonald's does.

🚫 Myth: Closed-water systems help mitigate data center resource use!
✅ Truth: While closed-water systems use less water than evaporative cooling systems, they use more power. As long as data centers are not powered by renewables, closed-water systems do not mitigate our resource use.

🚫 Myth: Data centers and AI are the future of technology, and we can support them!
✅ Truth: A new report from SELC shows that the capacity of global chip suppliers cannot support the overbuilding of data centers. This means that data centers are being built and may never come online.

🚫 Myth: We could just power them with small-scale nuclear reactors (SMRs)!
✅ Truth: There are only two SMRs online and five under construction in the world. The two online SMR’s are underperforming and took just as long to build a large scale power plant. Everything we hear on the effectiveness and efficiency of SMR’s is pure assumption. Research also shows that SMR’s can actually generate more nuclear waste than a large scale power plant. 

🚫 Myth: Data centers are great for property value!
✅ Truth: While data centers can generate property tax for a local government, they can cause nearby property values to drop. Residents living near data centers may experience noise pollution, grid outages, light pollution, and water contamination. These impacts can drive homeowners out of your neighborhoods. This can result in a drop in market value, which will cause a drop in property value. Bottom line: It is harder to sell a home that is located next to a nuisance.

🚫 Myth: Data Centers are fueling Georgia’s economy and must be local to do it. 
✅ Truth: While data centers do enable the modern economy, they do not need to be located in Georgia for Georgians to utilize them. In fact most data centers with space available "for rent" are too high-cost for local businesses.

Sample Outreach Language - This linked document contains sample email drafts to use when reaching out to community members, county commissioners, city council,  and planning/zoning committees if a data center is planned in your area!

Social Media Resources - Social media can be an excellent organizing tool to educate your community members. This folder contains graphics you can use on social media to educate and recruit your community members!

As we organize in our communities to mitigate the impacts of data centers, it can feel like an endless battle. It is important to uplift wins across Georgia and the United States where communities like your own are successfully taking action and implementing limits on data centers and requiring them to BE GOOD NEIGHBORS. Click the links below to see some stories of wins!

• Georgia
  • Atlanta
    • Atlanta City Council approves ordinances restricting data center development
    • Atlanta expands restrictions on where data centers can be built
  • DeKalb County
    • DeKalb County approves 100-day data center moratorium
    • DeKalb County officials halt new data center projects
  • Douglas County
    • Douglas County imposes 90-day halt on data centers
  • Coweta County
    • Coweta County puts moratorium on proposed data center
• Virginia
  • Loudoun County, Virginia, Eliminates By-Right Data Center Development
  • Hundreds oppose Chesapeake data center, commission recommends denial
  • Pittsylvania rejects data center project that has dominated county conversation for 6 months
  • Here's What Happens When Big Data Takes Over a Small Town
• National
  • Why You - and the Planet - Are Paying for the AI Gold Rush
  • The Carbon Footprint of Amazon, Google, and Facebook Is Growing
  • SELC: New report exposes inflated load growth projections from data centers in the Southeast

This spreadsheet contains local news and videos from around Georgia and the US to help you stay up to date on all things data centers. Notice something missing? Fill out our contact form and let us know.

Ready to take action or have questions about a specific topic related to data centers? Interested in passing a local ordinance in your area to mitigate data centers? Please fill out our Data Center Organizing Toolkit Contact Form to connect with our issue experts and organizers.