DeKalb County Commissioner Ted Terry acknowledges that, early on, he knew very little about data centers. As he began hearing more about the controversies surrounding them, he realized the county had no formal process for approving data center construction.
“If it’s in an unincorporated part of DeKalb County, you have to go through the county’s process,” he said. “Well, at the time, there was no process. So I started learning about data centers as soon as I realized they might be coming to my district.”
Terry told “Closer Look” host Rose Scott that he expects DeKalb will be increasingly attractive to developers.
Right now, he said, DeKalb has only “two very tiny data centers…legacy ones like BellSouth.” And for the moment, no new applications will be accepted. A moratorium is in place to give commissioners time to develop regulations and a framework for evaluating future proposals.
Even agreeing on specific provisions has been difficult for the seven‑member board.
“Over the last year, it’s been really interesting,” Terry said. “The moratorium has been a long process — nine public hearings, four revisions. And the first question is: How are they powered?”
Terry noted that data centers in Georgia are “more likely using Georgia Power or the EMCs, and those are mostly fossil‑fuel powered. So that was my first concern — that they’re being powered with fossil fuels that pollute our environment and contribute to climate change.”
There is also a disagreement over how an environmental study should be conducted. Terry wants an independent authority to lead the study, but the board must decide whether to issue an RFP. A majority of commissioners, however, support having the DeKalb CEO’s office take the lead.
In July, the Board of Commissioners voted 6–1 to extend the moratorium through March 2027. Terry cast the lone dissenting vote.
He said the problem is that the extension states, “We’ll let the CEO’s office study data centers.” But, he added, “For the entire nine months, the community has said, ‘We want an independent third party…an objective source to do an environmental and health study.”
