The Georgia Chamber of Commerce has opened a public campaign aimed at what it calls misinformation and disinformation circulating around data center development in the state. The effort responds to a wave of local resistance that has surfaced at county commission meetings and city council hearings across Georgia over the past year, where residents have raised objections tied to electricity costs, water consumption, noise and land use.
The friction has been visible in metro Atlanta and beyond. Marietta approved zoning for a second data center in August after hours of debate, and Cobb County commissioners earlier adopted a moratorium on new data center zoning applications while the county updated its development code. Statesboro approved a rezoning this month on a tie breaking vote from the mayor while residents packed city hall in opposition. Coweta County residents have filed an appeal seeking to stop a project on rural land.
Georgia has become one of the busiest data center markets in the country, with several thousand megawatts of capacity under development around metro Atlanta and tens of billions of dollars in announced projects. Developers point to construction employment, property tax revenue and long term operating jobs. Opponents question whether those returns justify the electricity and water demands, and whether existing residential customers absorb part of the cost.
The chamber campaign is expected to focus on economic contribution figures and on responding directly to claims the organization considers inaccurate. Local governments continue to set their own zoning terms, and several Georgia jurisdictions are rewriting ordinances to add setbacks, noise limits and water use conditions.
Source: Rough Draft Atlanta - https://roughdraftatlanta.com/2026/08/25/georgia-chamber-data-center-campaign/