Commissioners in a Georgia county unanimously decided to delay a vote on contentious new rules governing massive data center projects, during a meeting that drew an unusual overflow crowd.
Dozens of local residents packed the Commissioner Chambers in Newnan, 40 miles southwest of Atlanta, with more standing outside. Many wore red to show their unified opposition to “Project Sail,” a $17 billion “hyperscale” data center proposed in the Coweta County community of Sargent.
“Folks, we’ve got a long night ahead of us,” said County Commission Chairman Bill McKenzie at the start of the August 19 evening meeting, according to a livestream.
The groundswell of opposition to data centers in Coweta County is emblematic of grassroots fights taking place in communities across the United States, as developers seek to build gigantic projects hungry for land, water and power to meet skyrocketing demand for artificial intelligence (AI).
Georgia is home to the country’s fastest-growing data center market, according to global real estate services company CBRE, with various projects proposed in rural and suburban areas.
The Coweta County Commissioners had called the meeting to discuss a proposed local law — known as an ordinance — setting out new planning rules for data centers. The rules were drawn up in response to residents’ concerns that industrial sprawl from the projects will harm their quality of life.
A review of public records by DeSmog found that lobbyists and representatives of at least three data center projects sought to weaken various provisions which were later removed from the draft — including draft clauses related to environmental impact assessments, public hearings, and rezoning rules. Many local residents say that county staff and commissioners have so far failed to address their concerns and favored developers in drafting the ordinance.
“When we gather here tonight it’s because of something bigger than a building that’s happening in Coweta County,” resident Rob Cole told commissioners at the hearing. “Project Sail is not just a development, it’s a symbol of a growing disconnect between those elected to serve us and the people they represent.”
Project Sail is a joint venture between San Francisco-based Prologis (NYSE:PLD), the world’s largest industrial real estate company, and Georgia-based developer Atlas Development. If completed, the project will cover about 831 rural acres in the community of Sargent, an area the size of more than six hundred football fields, and consume about 900 megawatts (MW) of electricity generation capacity, about 14 times more than the total power demand of Atlanta’s airport, the busiest in the world.
A U.S. Department of Energy report released in December estimates that power demand from data centers nationwide could triple from 2023 levels within five years — from 4 to 12 percent of national power demand — which would strain power grids and drive increased demand for new fossil fuel energy developments, making the climate crisis worse.
Developers pitch huge tax revenues from the projects, arguing these will boost local services.
But during the hearing, Coweta County residents asked for stricter controls on data centers, such as: enforceable noise regulations, air pollution controls for hundreds of on-site power generators, and strict guidelines to conserve rural areas from development. They also asked for protection of Native American historical sites, and financial guarantees to cover the costs of safely decommissioning data centers.
County commissioners and staff have been drafting the ordinance since approving a 180-day moratorium on new data center developments on May 6, and say that it incorporates feedback from private citizens, developers, and independent experts.
Claims of partiality on the behalf of developers were untrue, said County Administrator Michael Fouts Tuesday night. “There was no selection process or filtering of feedback,” Fouts said.
“Additionally at no time throughout this process has staff met with industry experts or developers to seek their specific input on the draft ordinance,” Fouts added.
According to a timeline presented by Fouts, on June 4 commissioners had two-on-two meetings with county staff about the first draft of the ordinance, and it was released to the public on June 6.
However, according to public records, on June 3 Commissioner Jeff Fisher had sent an email titled “FW: Draft 1 Data Center” to Project Sail representatives, and invited them to “contact me after review.”
“After incorporating input from the commissioners, the first public draft was sent to the Board of Commissioners and made public on June 6. Based on the June 3 email from Commissioner Fisher, it appears that he emailed the initial draft to external recipients,” said Coweta County spokesperson Cathy Wickey in response to a request for comment.
“I don’t know if you all picked and choosed what you wanted to put into the new ordinance, or if you put everybody’s concerns in there, but I know that mine were missing,” said resident Connie Lytten at Tuesday night’s hearing.
Steven Jones, an attorney with the Atlanta law firm Taylor Duma, asked at the hearing for looser controls on data center building height and industrial rezoning designations. While Coweta County’s rules currently limit “light” and “heavy” industrial-zoned buildings to 34 feet, and allow up to 60 feet with a special permit, Jones asked the commission to “go up to 90 feet.”
Public records show that Jones represents developers of “Project Pegasus,” a data center development in the county backed by Virginia-based American Real Estate Partners, of which details are not yet public.
Gene Murphey, a local real estate developer, told the hearing he believed the ordinance process had “been well-handled.” He also praised county commissioners and staff, saying that the Newnan Times Herald’s recent coverage of the ordinance was “kind of one-sided.” On Friday, the newspaper reported that Coweta County Commissioner John Reidelbach wrote to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources requesting that an agency employee and Project Sail critic be “reprimanded” for “misinformation.”
Public records show that Murphey is also associated with the Project Pegasus development.
Calling on commissioners to take more time to strengthen the ordinance, Chris Manganiello, who works with the regional environmental nonprofit Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, said that the “unprecedented energy and water demands” of data centers meant that they “should only be allowed in industrial districts.”
Local resident Ben Callaway said he was concerned about environmental impacts and thought chasing projected revenues wasn’t needed. “I think there’s a reason why communities across the country are pushing back on data centers,” he said.
Ron Bockrath asked commissioners to learn from communities around the country that have had “second thoughts” about data centers after they did not live up to their economic promise, and encouraged commissioners to do more research.
“You don’t have to write everything from scratch. Learn from other people,” he said.
Carolyn Wynn questioned whether recent advances in quantum computing would soon make data centers obsolete. Wynn wore yellow to show her opposition to “Project Peach,” a proposed 327-acre hyperscale data center in Palmetto, which obtained rezoning permission in April despite opposition from Palmetto’s mayor and a group of citizens who spoke at the rezoning hearing.
“Please listen to everyone that is here and make sure that they have a voice that you hear,” Wynn said.
Project Peach is a joint venture between a Dallas-based data center company called CyrusOne and North Coweta Investors, linked to Atlanta-based Strategic Real Estate Partners.
The next hearing on the ordinance, scheduled for September 11 at 6 p.m. will take place at the Coweta County Fairgrounds to accommodate an expected large crowd.
The reporting for this story was supported by the Fund for Investigative Journalism.
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