The race to power Georgia’s data center boom

Server South

Marisa Mecke , Emily Jones , Sam Gringlas , Rahul Bali , Brendan Rivers | WABE

June 13th, 2025

Sheep graze near rows of solar panels at a farm in Lee County, Georgia that powers a Meta data center. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)

Data centers are growing faster in Atlanta than anywhere else in the country.

That rapid growth has left communities grappling with how these new developments will impact the environment and their neighborhoods.

WABE has been taking a closer look at data centers as part of our series, “Server South.”

On this week’s episode of “Plugged In,” hosts Sam Gringlas and Rahul Bali are joined by WABE and Grist Climate Reporter Emily Jones and WABE Environment Reporter Marisa Mecke to talk about data centers’ massive demand for power and water and some possible solutions.