Hundreds of Georgians press legislators about environmental impact of data centers
Environmental advocacy groups flooded the Georgia Capitol Thursday to share their support for multiple bills that could alter data center tax incentives and energy regulations across the state.
Hundreds of Georgians from Valdosta, Athens, metro Atlanta and more showed up to mark Environmental Justice Day. They said they are concerned about the large amounts of water and electricity, which can be sourced by fossil fuels, these facilities use. Some data centers plan to use up to 2 million gallons of fresh water per day.
Ann Kasun, from Valdosta, was among the 37 members of Concerned Citizens of Cook County who got on a bus at 3 a.m. to travel to Atlanta.
“Environmental Justice Day is very important to us,” Kasun said. “We are fighting two data centers in Valdosta. …The city isn’t talking to us about them. Today, we told both our representative and senator that we don’t want data centers in south Georgia. We can’t afford it. Our water is too valuable to us. This is a farming, agricultural area, and we can’t lose the water — we’ve already been in a drought.”
Kasun, who said she has lobbied once before, said she told her representatives she doesn’t want data centers at all, but if they do come, Senate Bill 34 would force data centers to pay for their own energy.
SB 34 would require data centers larger than 100 megawatts to pay for the additional electricity costs, rather than passing it on to residential customers.
Georgia, specifically the Atlanta area, leads the nation in data center development: There are reports of anywhere from 150 to 250 data centers around the state, according to experts.
Ryan Jones, from Stone Mountain, said he supports SB 34 and was lobbying in-person for the first time Thursday. He started an environmental justice nonprofit, Black Empowerment for Environmental Sustainability.
“The (issues) that concern me most are the influx of data centers that are coming to Georgia,” he said. “They are increasing energy demand, and Georgia Power and other utilities are passing those rates on to local citizenry. I’m here to ask (legislators) what they plan to do about that and how they fight for Georgians.”
Lawmakers weigh seven data center bills
State Sen. Ed Harbison, D-Columbus, chairman of the State Institutions and Property Committee, wants to make any data center bill “palatable” for people for, and against, the facilities.
“The issues about the data centers, as far as I’m concerned, is to listen to people on both sides of the issue,” he told the Ledger-Enquirer. “The big concern I’ve heard from the people that are opposed is that they are afraid of excessive water use and whether the cost will fall back to the consumer ... The other side of the argument is about adding value to a city that will make taxes.“
The strictest data center bill, House Bill 1012, introduced last week by state Rep. Ruwa Romman, D-Duluth, would put a moratorium on all data center development through February 2027.
State Rep. Debbie Buckner, D-Columbus, has two bills regarding data center transparency and sunsetting data center tax incentives.
HB 528, dubbed “The Disclosure Bill” by Buckner, would require data centers to share how much energy and water would be used before they can set up shop. She filed this bill last session, but it’s still in committee in the House. Buckner said she has asked for a hearing.
“In order for you to be eligible for tax incentives, you have to tell us what you are going to use — the amount of electricity or water or noise you bring” Buckner said. “I just felt like we needed to know what was being expected of us, in our communities.”
Buckner also introduced HB 559, which sunsets Georgia’s sales tax break for data centers Dec. 31, 2026. It is also in committee and has not yet had a hearing.
Senate Bill 94, sponsored by state Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, R-Rome, would recreate the Consumer Utility Council at the Georgia Public Service Commission. The group existed until 2008 and was decommissioned by former Gov. Sonny Purdue. If SB 94 passes, which advocates at the Capitol also were lobbying for, a legal body would represent the Georgia public at the PSC.
How much is your water worth?
Similar to Buckner’s bill, but further along in the Senate, SB 408 would sunset the data center tax incentives by 2027, and SB 410 would repeal them completely.
Wednesday, the Senate Finance Committee heard from University of Georgia researcher Tommie Shepherd and the state’s Department of Audits and Accounts who jointly authored a data center tax exemption report.
Hufstetler told the Ledger-Enquirer he asked for this report last April, when he introduced SB 34.
The report found the sales tax incentives were a factor for 30% of the data centers that came to Georgia. Seventy percent would have done business regardless of the tax incentives.
“Since 2018 ,when the tax incentive was introduced, we’ve seen significant growth of data centers in Georgia, particularly large scale, hyper scale data centers,” Shepherd said. “The majority of the economic impact is tied to the construction of the data centers themselves.”
The study revealed tens of millions of dollars (and more recently, hundreds of millions) in tax credits were given for data center equipment.
In 2018, $18 million in tax credits were given, $27 million in 2019 and $10 million in 2020. By 2025, the budget tax incentives will cost $625 million and rise to $850 million in 2029.
“That’s from a four-cent state sales tax exemption,” said Hufstetler. “The three-cent local goes up to $1.1 billion. It’s a huge amount of money we’re giving away.
“If all these data centers would come here anyway without this tax credit at all, why are we giving all this money away?”
The study also found the tax exemption resulted in 8,505 construction jobs and 1,641 in operational jobs. It added $1 billion to the state economy from construction and $247 million to the state economy for data center operations. State economic growth was significantly higher than the forgone state revenue, the report found.
“Because of spending on data centers, additional tax revenue was generated within the economy, and this is a great return on investment for our local communities,” Shepherd said.
This story was originally published January 29, 2026 at 5:15 PM with the headline "Hundreds of Georgians press legislators about environmental impact of data centers."
