Records raise questions about Georgia’s largest data center and its water use

Our Take

Credit to Atlanta News First for doing what too few outlets bother with anymore: pulling the actual meter records instead of taking a company's sustainability page at its word. Eleven Georgia Aquariums' worth of water is the kind of comparison that makes an abstract utility bill feel real, and that's exactly the point — most residents near a hyperscale campus have no idea what's flowing under their feet until a reporter files an open records request.

This is the pattern we track everywhere: a facility gets approved with vague water and power projections, the meters start running, and only later do the real numbers surface — usually after a local reporter or a citizen group forces the issue. Fayette County isn't unique. It's one data point in a national buildout where county commissions are signing off on deals with limited public modeling of long-term water and grid strain, often before residents get a real seat at the table.

If you live near a data center corridor, don't wait for your local utility to volunteer this information. Check our facility map to see what's operating or planned near you, and use our take-action page to find out how to request the same kind of records that made this QTS story possible.