One in five Georgia counties now has a data center ordinance in place or in draft form, according to a June 2 report from the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. As of June 1, 2026, 32 counties and 22 cities across the state had adopted moratoriums, passed ordinances, or begun drafting regulations in response to a wave of server-farm development tied to cloud computing and artificial intelligence.
Metro Atlanta counties are central to the trend. Fayetteville, in Fayette County, joined Atlanta and Palmetto in prohibiting new data centers after revising its unified development ordinance, a change residents described as an effective ban within city limits. Fayette County was home to the QTS campus on 615 acres, the first hyperscale data center campus to break ground in Georgia in 2023. Clayton County's moratorium was cited by Fayetteville advocates as part of a domino effect across neighboring jurisdictions.
In DeKalb County, residents have spent roughly a year working with commissioners on a data center text amendment that has gone through four drafts. One proposed amendment would cap facilities at 500,000 square feet, and advocates have raised concerns about strain on the county's water system, which remains under a 2011 federal consent decree.
Statewide, project tracker Cleanview counts 17 operating data centers in Georgia and 83 planned, with the largest proposals ranging from 600 to 1,250 megawatts. The Georgia Tech Energy Policy and Innovation Center launched an ordinance hub in March to help local governments compare regulatory approaches.
Source: Columbus Ledger-Enquirer -- https://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/environment/article315964444.html