A data center that is expected to consume as much energy as a whole Georgia power plant can produce is to be built for OpenAI at a Savannah-area industrial site, the company announced this week.
The tech company says the community and the state will benefit from hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue and other contributions to local causes.
It also says it will mitigate its environmental impact by using a closed-loop water system to cool the computers at the core of the project. And it says it will not burden taxpayers with the cost of building the infrastructure necessary to power such a facility.
“OpenAI will pay the full cost of the infrastructure and electric-service costs required to serve it,” the company said in its announcement this week about what it is calling Project Camellia.
Georgia Power says it is prepared to deliver the 3,200 megawatts OpenAI will require.
That is nearly as much power as Plant Bowen in Bartow County can produce with its four coal-fired units.
Georgia Power added that the tech company has agreed to use as much as 1,000 megawatts less during peak demand periods.
Ratepayer advocates like that flexibility agreement because it can reduce the overall capacity required from Georgia Power, potentially leading to less construction of power plants, power lines and other infrastructure.
But the advocates also say there is too little information available to assess the actual impact.
“My reaction is tempered right now because there are no details,” said Bob Sherrier, a lawyer with the Atlanta-based Southern Environmental Law Center.
The Public Service Commission, which regulates Georgia Power, has implemented a rule requiring data centers to pay their own way. But Sherrier said the industry opposed legislation during this year’s legislative session that would have written such a requirement into law.
“We promise but don’t make it enforceable,” was their position, he said.
The White House this week announced that over 200 “organizations and stakeholders” had committed to President Donald Trump’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge. It asks data centers to pay the full cost of the energy and infrastructure they use.
Gov. Brian Kemp praised the pledge in a video on X, saying he signed it. He also said the public should embrace data centers. As their electricity demand rises, electricity bills for everyone go down, he said.
The Southern Environmental Law Center says Georgia Power has raised rates nearly $40 since 2023.
OpenAI held an open house Thursday in Effingham County.
A few hundred people protested outside but far more went inside to learn about the project, said Beth Remmes, a local coordinator with the advocacy group Georgia Interfaith Power & Light.
People were concerned about things like water use, and noise and light pollution, she said, adding that company representatives said the facility would use diesel generators as backup power for only a portion of the system.
“But what is a small part?” Remmes said. “I think people still left with more questions than answers.”
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