Georgia
DataCentersExposed tracks 154 AI data centers in Georgia — 28 operating and 76 in the pipeline — across 36 counties, drawing 19.5 GW of reported power demand from 21 tracked corporate operators. Georgia's data-center tax break cost the state $474.2M in forgone revenue in FY2025.
Sources: Methodology, Coverage scorecard
Reporting by Eric Keller · Updated May 29, 2026
Georgia at a glance
The largest footprint in Georgia belongs to QTS Realty Trust, LLC, behind 10 tracked facilities. Microsoft Corporation, Prime Data Centers, and Meta Platforms, Inc. round out the most active operators in the state. Many of these sites are filed under shell or project names rather than the parent's — our operator column resolves them back to the real corporate parent wherever the chain is documented.
Geographically, the buildout clusters: Douglas County leads Georgia with 21 facilities and a composite risk score of 34/100. Newton County and Fulton County follow. Our county risk score weights project exposure (40%), power demand (30%), water draw (15%), and land footprint (15%); the full breakdown is shown on each county page.
Georgia is not done growing. 76 facilities are in the pipeline — proposed, permitted, or under construction — which is where residents still have a say at zoning hearings and in rate cases. Each pending project is a decision about land, water, electricity prices, and tax revenue that hasn't been finalized.
We also surface the accountability trail: 8 state bills mentioning data centers and 6 recent news items are tracked for Georgia below, pulled from LegiScan and GDELT and refreshed automatically. Legislation is linked to the counties and operators it names; news is classified by community sentiment.
2035 Buildout Outlook
Under the model's moderate-growth scenario (5%/yr annual load growth), PNNL's IM3 model sites about 14 standardized 36 MW campuses in Georgia by 2035 — roughly 504 MW of new electricity demand and ~487 M gal/yr of cooling water. Under the higher-growth scenario (15%/yr) that climbs to 76 campuses (2.7 GW). For scale, we currently track 154 real data centers in Georgia (19.5 GW of reported power).
- Low growth9324 MW · ~313 M gal/yr cooling water
- Moderate growth14504 MW · ~487 M gal/yr cooling water
- High growth371.3 GW · ~1.3 billion gal/yr cooling water
- Higher growth762.7 GW · ~2.6 billion gal/yr cooling water
The model assigns ~100% of these campuses' cooling to evaporative water cooling in Georgia (the rest to mechanical/air cooling), a split it derives from local water stress and wet-bulb temperature.
These are modeled candidate sites, not announced or permitted facilities. PNNL's IM3 model places identical 36 MW unit-campuses at feasible locations under each scenario — it shows where demand could concentrate, never a specific parcel. Figures use a market-gravity weight of 50. How the model works.
Top operators in Georgia
The taxpayer price tag
“The Institute estimated forgone state tax revenue of $474.2 million in FY 2025.”
- High-Technology Data Center Equipment Sales and Use Tax Exemption (O.C.G.A. § 48-8-3(68.1)) · FY2025$474.2M
- High-Tech Data Center Equipment Exemption — OPB fiscal-note line (O.C.G.A. § 48-8-3(68.1)) · FY2025proj$41M
- High-Tech Data Center Equipment Exemption — OPB fiscal-note line (O.C.G.A. § 48-8-3(68.1)) · FY2025proj$35M
Program-wide cost of Georgia's data-center tax incentive(s), reported by the state — not attributable to a single facility. “Proj” = the state's own forward estimate; all other figures are realized/audited. Each links to its primary source.
County risk leaderboard
| County | Facilities | Pipeline | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Douglas County | 21 | 9 | 34 |
| Newton County | 9 | 3 | 23 |
| Fulton County | 31 | 10 | 16 |
| Cobb County | 5 | 2 | 16 |
| Fayette County | 9 | 2 | 8 |
| Gwinnett County | 4 | — | 8 |
| Muscogee County | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| Forsyth County | 1 | — | 4 |
| Coweta County | 6 | 5 | — |
| Floyd County | 5 | 5 | — |
| Jones County | 4 | 2 | — |
| Spalding County | 4 | 4 | — |
Pipeline & proposals
- Proposed1.8 GWProject BunkhouseTaurus Investment Holdings · Bartow County County
- Proposed1.8 GWProject BunkhouseGaines Family Land LLC · Bartow County
- Proposed1.3 GWProject ArrowheadOperator unknown · Irwin County
- Proposed1.1 GWRumble Technology CampusGoogle/Cloverleaf Infrastructure · Monroe County
- Proposed900 MWProject EagleEagle Rock Partners · Twiggs County
- Proposed900 MWProject SailAtlas Development LLC · Coweta County County