Microsoft Fairwater Atlanta
"Microsoft's 'almost zero water' data center quietly drew 29 million gallons through unmetered pipes."
1435 STATE RTE 54, FAYETTEVILLE, GA, 30214 · FAYETTEVILLE, Fayette County, GA
Source: Primary source
Microsoft Fairwater Atlanta is an operating data center in Fayette County, GA, operated by Microsoft Corporation. DataCentersExposed has documented 859 MW of reported power capacity at this site.
Reporting by Eric Keller · Updated Jun 18, 2026
Overview
source: linkThis is Microsoft's "Fairwater" AI datacenter in Fayetteville, Georgia, on QTS's 615-acre campus southwest of Atlanta. It came online in October 2025 with hundreds of thousands of Nvidia GB200 and GB300 GPUs, and Microsoft links it by a dedicated fiber backbone to its sister Fairwater site in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin to act as a single "AI superfactory."
Microsoft markets the closed-loop cooling as consuming almost no water. The reality in Fayette County complicated that message: the campus drew about 29 million gallons over roughly 15 months through two unauthorized, unmetered connections, discovered only when residents complained about low pressure. The county billed QTS $147,474 in back charges but declined to fine it, with an official explaining that the company is the county's largest customer.
The wider cost shows up on the grid. In December 2025 Georgia regulators approved Georgia Power's roughly $16 billion expansion, including five new gas plants, with data centers making up most of the projected load growth. Fayetteville banned new data centers across every zoning district in March 2026, and Georgia's data-center sales-tax break survived only because the governor vetoed a bill to pause it.
Operator chain
- Ultimate parentMicrosoft Corporation
- Files asMicrosoft Corporation
- This facilityMicrosoft Fairwater Atlanta
Grid & water — why here
source: HIFLD · EPAThe closest existing grid infrastructure and the municipal water system this location sits in — the same constraints the buildout model screens on (it won't site a campus more than ~2 km from a substation or ~5 km from municipal water). Distances are straight-line to public HIFLD/EPA features, not a metered connection.
In the news
source: GDELT- Microsoft works to unwind tax breaks for its metro Atlanta data centers - AJC.comAJC.com· Aug 6, 2026
- Goldman Pitches $5.4 Billion Debt for Microsoft-Tied Data Center - Bloomberg.comBloomberg.com· Jul 29, 2026
- Microsoft (MSFT) faces class-action lawsuit in Wisconsin over data center - ShacknewsShacknews· Jul 6, 2026
- Microsoft confirms plans for data center in Tyrone, Georgia - Data Center DynamicsData Center Dynamics· May 5, 2026
Tax breaks & subsidies
source: Good Jobs First / GASB 77No per-deal tax break is linked to this site yet. No state discloses the recipient of a data-center abatement at the facility level, so per-site deals are rare in the public record. If you have a development agreement or board resolution for this site, send it to us.
Georgia reported $474.2M in High-Technology Data Center Equipment Sales and Use Tax Exemption (O.C.G.A. § 48-8-3(68.1)) for FY2025 (Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts (DOAA); economic analysis by UGA Carl Vinson Institute of Government). Program-wide, not attributable to this site.
Water use
No measured record exists, so this is a low-confidence model from 859 MW (disclosed IT power): 2 L/kWh cooling (hot climate) + 0.55 gal/kWh embedded in SOCO grid mix. How we estimate. Have a utility document? Send it and we'll replace this with the real figure.
EPA permits & violations
source: EPA ECHONo reported violations as of last sync.
Air quality near this site
source: AirNowAir Quality Index from the nearest AirNow reporting area (Atlanta), as of 2026-06-10. Regional context — not this facility's own emissions.
Who lives nearby
source: Census ACS 2023Demographics of the census tract this facility sits in (American Community Survey 5-year estimates). Environmental-justice context for who bears the local impacts.
Nearest school
source: HIFLD / NCESThe nearest public school, Cleveland Elementary School in Fayetteville, is 0.7 mi from this site (419 students). 2 public schools sit within a mile of the site.
Schools are sensitive receptors for the noise, backup-generator exhaust, and traffic a large data center brings. Straight-line distance to the nearest public school (HIFLD/NCES, US public schools only).
Hearings timeline
No public-hearing records linked to this site yet. We surface planning-commission and board-of-supervisors dates when a record names a facility. If you know of a hearing on this site, tell us.