With Data Centers, Transparency Is the Only Acceptable Policy

By Maurice Carter, Sustainable Newton Co-Founder & President

Effingham County residents were startled last month with news a $20B OpenAI data center project was approved by their local officials without public notice or any opportunity to comment. A story in Sunday's edition of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution recaps the events that led to the July 22 surprise announcement, with the goal of answering Effingham County residents who wondered "How is it that we didn’t hear a peep about this until it was already done?”

We want to answer the logical next question for our neighbors here in Newton County:  "Could it happen here?"  The answer is "thankfully not," but it could have turned out differently.
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As AJC reporter  Adam Van Brimmer explains it, 2024 updates to Effingham County's zoning ordinances allowed the OpenAI project to be approved by county officials without public notice.  "A push to modernize the county’s zoning ordinance resulted in data centers already being a permitted use a year before OpenAI first made contact," he writes. "A key element in addressing the antiquated zoning laws was the creation of a permitted use table. This tool established what could be built where 'by right' — meaning without significant review. The initial version was added to the zoning law in late 2024; the tables of uses ran for 10 pages. Data centers were on the list but drew little attention."

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