Altamaha Riverkeeper

Once a niche policy concern, data centers have become an increasingly potent issue in Middle Georgia, where residents, environmental advocates and rival politicians are clashing over the costs and benefits of the massive facilities.

“I’ve worked in environmental advocacy for over a decade, and I’ve never seen the groundswell of organic local opposition that we are seeing now with data centers,” said Fletcher Sams, the Altamaha Riverkeeper and a critic of the projects.

How data centers are rattling a Georgia Senate special election Democrats are hoping concerns over a $21 billion data center near Forsyth could help flip a Republican-held seat in the Georgia General Assembly.

“In Middle Georgia, the biggest source is going to be the coal, the coal-fired power plant, Plant Scherer,” said Dr. Christie Bridges with Mercer University.

With coal the biggest culprit, according to Bridges, Altamaha Riverkeeper Fletcher Sams says the concern could worsen as power providers do all they can to meet exponentially rising demand for electricity.

In addition to the growing power demand, federal regulators are actively delaying and reconsidering pollution rules for coal-fired power plants — including granting temporary exemptions to Georgia Power’s largest units.

“This comes at a time where Plant Scherer has received a presidential exception from the MATS rule governing mercury discharge, and the EPA is considering eliminating all together other environmental controls such as the CCR rule and clean power plant rule that currently protect residents,” said Sams.

Mercury gets in fish in Middle GA waters, can cause health problems. What’s the cause? Mercury persists in fish across Middle Georgia rivers. Growing power demand and regulatory delays may slow progress, keeping advisories in place.

Late last month, the department approved new regional planning procedures for data centers above a certain square footage. But before that, the DRI process had been paused for months while the agency crafted the new data center guidelines.

The hiatus triggered worries that communities were effectively blindfolded while data centers surged. Even with new disclosure rules in place, Sams of the Altamaha Riverkeeper says there’s still a troubling lack of information available.

Of the 26 data centers he’s tracking across his vast river basin that stretches from Middle Georgia to the coast, he said he has water withdrawal estimates for fewer than half.

“There’s not enough information for me to tell you what the water impacts are,” Sams said.

Why Big Tech sees Georgia farmland as ripe for data centers As areas around Atlanta have moved to curtail data center development, tech giants are scouring rural areas to plant massive server farms.