They’ve Made It to Our Back Door: What AI Data Centers Mean for District 157

They’ve made it to our back door. OpenAI, the parent company of AI juggernaut ChatGPT, plans on building a $20 billion, 4.4 million square foot data center in Effingham County. The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence data centers across Georgia has made power grid capacity, groundwater protection, and ratepayer costs top-of-mind issues throughout the state.

In House District 157 (covering Evans, Jeff Davis, Tattnall, and parts of Appling counties), rural land, available high-voltage utility corridors, and access to water make Southeast Georgia a key area of focus for developers.

While major infrastructure projects can bring short-term construction dollars and bolster local commercial property tax bases, they also present specific localized challenges: high power and water consumption, modest long-term job numbers, and potential utility rate hikes for everyday residents.

Understanding the Scale of What’s Coming to Southeast Georgia

It is worth being specific about just how large this project actually is, because the numbers are hard to grasp in the abstract. OpenAI’s proposal, known internally as Project Camellia, is planned for a 1,400-acre site at the Savannah Gateway Industrial Hub near Rincon, roughly a thirty-minute drive from downtown Savannah. The company has committed an initial $20 billion to the project, with executives saying the fully built-out campus could cost more than $30 billion once all phases are complete. OpenAI has contracted with Georgia Power for up to 3.2 gigawatts of electricity, delivered in phases through 2032, an amount of power that industry estimates put in the range of what roughly 2.4 million American homes would use. For comparison, a single traditional hyperscale data center typically requires around 100 megawatts, meaning this one project alone represents more than thirty times that baseline.

The jobs picture is more modest than the dollar figures suggest. County leaders and OpenAI project the facility will employ around 400 permanent workers when phases open starting in 2028, growing to roughly 1,000 by 2032. Those are meaningful jobs, but they are a small number relative to a $20 to $30 billion capital investment, and a small number relative to the strain that scale of power and water demand places on a region.

Why This Is Not Just Effingham County’s Problem

Project Camellia will not be built in Tattnall, Jeff Davis, Appling, or Evans County. But the same conditions that made Effingham attractive to OpenAI, rural land, available high-voltage transmission corridors, and access to water, describe our district just as accurately. Georgia already has an estimated 200 or more operational data centers statewide, most concentrated around metro Atlanta, but developers are actively scouting coastal and southeastern Georgia specifically because that inventory of rural land and grid capacity is running out closer to the city. The Georgia Public Service Commission approved a nearly 10-gigawatt expansion of Georgia Power’s generating capacity in December 2025, and roughly 80 percent of that additional output is expected to serve current and future data center demand. That is a statewide signal that more projects like Project Camellia are coming, and there is no reason to assume Southeast Georgia is exempt.

1. Local Municipal Action (City & County Level)

Statewide legislation often lags behind development, so local zoning and city councils are your first line of defense.

• Attend County Commission & Zoning Board Meetings: Data centers require local rezoning approvals, conditional use permits, or tax abatement agreements (often structured through local Industrial Development Authorities). Keep an eye on public hearing notices for agricultural or industrial rezoning in Evans, Tattnall, Jeff Davis, or Appling counties, as protecting these lands is vital to supporting local farmers.
• Push for Protective Zoning Ordinances: Encourage city and county leaders to update land-use codes before developers present options. Effective local safeguards used across Georgia include:
  • Water Use Caps & Closed-Loop Mandates: Requiring facilities to use closed-loop liquid cooling or air cooling rather than evaporative cooling systems that draw millions of gallons of municipal groundwater daily.
  • Setbacks & Noise Buffers: Mandating minimum distance requirements (e.g., 1,000+ feet) from residential zones to mitigate continuous low-frequency hums from HVAC cooling towers and backup diesel generators.
  • Tax Break Audits: Asking county commissioners to evaluate whether long-term tax abatements are justified given that operational data centers typically employ fewer than 30 to 50 permanent staff members for facilities smaller than Project Camellia’s scale, and even a project the size of Project Camellia projects only around 400 initial jobs against a $20 billion investment.

What Effingham County’s Fight Can Teach Us

Effingham County residents did not have the benefit of hindsight when OpenAI’s plans became public, and nearly 1,000 people showed up to a single open house to voice concerns about water use, power draw, and the fact that the county’s 25-year power contract with Georgia Power was negotiated without public input before residents ever had a chance to weigh in. Some coastal Georgia communities have since started hitting the brakes on data center zoning applications entirely, requiring more rigorous review before projects can advance. That is the lesson for District 157: the time to establish protective zoning and require public input requirements is before a developer shows up with a signed power contract, not after.

2. Engaging Legislative Leadership

As your Representative, I will continue the work that Representative Bill Werkheiser started with the House Energy, Utilities & Telecommunications Committee, giving local constituents an important channel on state energy policy.

Contact Your Representative: Express your priorities regarding large-load utility customers to Rep. Werkheiser’s office, and VOTE!

Key legislative policy areas currently under debate in Georgia include:

• Ratepayer Protection Bills: Supporting legislation (such as HB 1063) that prohibits electric utilities from shifting the costs of grid expansions for high-density commercial users onto residential and agricultural power bills, and VOTE! It is worth noting that HB 1063 actually passed the Georgia House by an overwhelming 159-5 vote in early 2026, but it stalled in the State Senate and did not become law that session. Speaker Jon Burns has said the House will continue pushing the measure, but until it clears the Senate and is signed into law, the only ratepayer protections currently in place are Public Service Commission rules, which can be revised by the Commission itself rather than locked in by statute. That distinction matters: a rule can be a good start, but only a law passed by the General Assembly gives rural ratepayers a durable guarantee. When asking if legislators can do anything about the cost of living, stopping rate hikes on your utility bill is a prime example. Read my cost of living and economy plan for more on how we can protect ratepayers.
• Tax Credit Sunset Rules: Advocating for transparency and limits on state sales tax exemptions for data center equipment unless companies meet explicit community resource commitments, and VOTE!
• Public Transparency Measures: Supporting requirements that prevent municipal utilities or local governments from signing non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) that conceal total projected water or energy draw from the community, and VOTE!

3. Household & Community Readiness

Preparing as a resident involves protecting your utility budget and staying informed on regional infrastructure builds:

• Monitor Public Service Commission (PSC) Proceedings: The Georgia PSC regulates utility rates and approves capital projects for Georgia Power. Following PSC dockets or submitting public comments helps ensure rural ratepayers’ voices are heard when new transmission lines or generation plants are proposed, and VOTE!
• Evaluate Home Energy Efficiency: As grid demand grows statewide, baseline electricity rates are projected to experience upward pressure. Utilizing seasonal energy audits, solar options, or high-efficiency heat pumps can help shield your household budget from rate fluctuations.
• Join Regional Conservation Groups: Local organizations like the Altamaha Riverkeeper monitor industrial water withdrawal permits and environmental impact reports across Southeast Georgia, serving as helpful watchdog resources for residents.

Why This Fight Is About Local Control, Not Opposition to Progress

I want to be clear about something: this is not an argument against economic development, or against technology, or against the jobs that responsible growth can bring to rural Georgia. It is an argument that decisions of this scale, decisions that will shape water tables, power bills, and land use for a generation, should never be finalized in a boardroom before the people who actually live here get a seat at the table. Effingham County residents found out about the details of their county’s 25-year power commitment largely after the fact. Tattnall, Jeff Davis, Appling, and Evans County residents deserve better than that if and when a developer comes knocking here.

Rural Georgia has long been treated as a place where outside interests, whether that is a utility conglomerate, a corporate data center developer, or Atlanta lawmakers who have never set foot in this district, can make decisions and let local taxpayers absorb the consequences. My commitment is simple: any large-load project proposed for this district gets full public transparency, real ratepayer protections written into state law, and local communities with a genuine voice before contracts are signed, not after.