Georgia is on pace to have roughly 60 large data centers operating by the end of 2026, with another 119 facilities in various stages of planning, according to data from Cleanview cited in a recent analysis. If those projects proceed, the state's data center power capacity would grow from about 3,906 megawatts today to nearly 14,166 megawatts, a 287 percent increase.
The growth has not been without friction at the local level. In Effingham County, a proposed $20 billion data center project linked to OpenAI has drawn organized opposition from residents. In DeKalb County, Shadowbox Studios, a film production company pursuing a data center development on its property, is now suing the county over a moratorium that has paused new projects.
Most of the state's existing and planned facilities are clustered in central and western Georgia counties. Analysts note that a typical new data center operating at about two-thirds capacity requires enough electricity to power approximately 54,000 homes, and that next-generation facilities coming online in the U.S. are expected to consume roughly 2.5 times more power than those that opened in 2026.
The scale of the buildout has intensified debate in Georgia over how utilities and local governments should plan for the electricity demand tied to the state's growing data center footprint.
Source: Axios Atlanta -- https://www.axios.com/local/atlanta/2026/09/25/georgia-data-centers-energy-capacity-growth-2026