Data centers are a big and growing business in Georgia — to some, they might seem to be popping up on every corner like Waffle Houses all around the metro area.
The warehouse-like facilities power our online lives, and state and some local communities have welcomed this development boom that has ramped up in recent years.
Data centers have arrived so quickly that many Georgians are trying to keep up with the news and have plenty of questions.
WABE’s new series, “Server South,” answers some of these questions across the state from inside a data center, to an Atlanta office tower, to local living rooms — and even a field full of sheep.
This series will explain what data centers are and why the industry has honed in on Georgia to plant roots.
The business of big data
WABE’s business reporter Marlon Hyde explains that data centers are physical locations where our digital information is stored. Whenever you save something to the cloud or open an app, you use data centers.
This business is booming in Georgia, and in fact, it’s growing faster here in metro Atlanta than anywhere else in the country.
“It’s really just the beginning of a large, steady curve of new digital infrastructure required, new power and energy infrastructure that will be required,” Bill Thomson said. He is the Vice President of Marketing & Product Management for DC BLOX, a data center company.
However, that rapid growth means communities are grappling with how these new developments impact their neighborhoods.
South Atlanta braces for data development
WABE Southside reporter DorMiya Vance spoke with residents about their experiences with data centers popping up in their communities, some even in their backyards, and how those folks are dealing with the changes.
“And so now I have to come to terms with the fact that what I once thought would be life here now has significantly changed,” Kecia Scott said. She is a Fayetteville resident who lives near a new data center development.
When Vance was out in the field, she was shook regarding how fast these sites are being developed. Miles of green land turned empty lots in a matter of days. But, changes in neighborhoods aren’t the only impacts that people in Georgia are thinking about, because data centers also use a lot of water and energy.
‘Unprecedented’ water use
WABE’s environment reporter Marisa Mecke says that in some cases, massive amounts of water are being used to cool these facilities.
While a lot of attention has been paid to data centers’ energy use, in Georgia, some experts are concerned about how much water data center developers are requesting from local water utilities. On extremely hot days, some companies could use up to a quarter or even a third of an entire county’s water intake.
“And so the concern I have is that the policy environment is not really designed to kind of respond to this new, unprecedented demand,” said Chris Manganiello, water policy director for Chattahoochee Riverkeeper.
Water policy experts are figuring out how to service this new booming industry while also preparing for droughts and making sure downstream neighbors get enough water, too.
Energy demands outweigh solar promises
At the same time, Georgia is grappling with producing enough power to meet resource needs.
WABE’s and Grist climate reporter Emily Jones is looking back at how the early projects in Georgia’s data center boom invested heavily in solar power to meet their massive electricity needs. But now, a surge in energy demand from data centers has Georgia utilities doubling down on fossil fuels.
“Effectively, they’ve gone from promising to be carbon neutral to really just blowing their goals out of the water. And this is, and this is uniquely due to AI and generative AI in particular,” said Alex Hanna, director of research at the Distributed AI Research Institute.
Policymakers recognize opportunities — and challenges
WABE’s politics reporter Rahul Bali says the state offers incentives to attract more data centers. After all, it’s a big business, and they want to attract economic development.
At the same time, some lawmakers are interested in legislation regarding data centers, and they’re studying the industry’s impact on Georgia’s resources.
“When you hear concerns about data centers in the general public, you hear it around energy and water use and resources,” said Georgia Chamber President and CEO Chris Clark.
All these topics and more will be covered in Server South, which you can find at wabe.org/datacenters.
