Data-Centers on WACN 21 News

Fulton County commission approves controversial data-center rezoning

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 21:00:00 -0400

The Fulton County Commission voted 4-3 Wednesday night to rezone roughly 280 acres in south Fulton for two new hyperscale data centers, clearing the way for what would be among the largest such facilities in the country.

The vote, taken at a contentious 5-hour meeting, was the most-watched local political action in metro Atlanta this year. More than 200 people attended in person; the meeting room spilled over into an overflow space.

Atlanta's data center boom has a water problem nobody wants to solve

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 11:00:00 -0400

I want to talk about something the Atlanta metro’s data-center boom has been quietly doing for the past three years, and that nobody in a position to do anything about it seems to want to discuss in public.

Water.

Hyperscale data centers — the massive warehouses that run cloud computing and AI training — use staggering amounts of water for cooling. A single medium-sized facility uses as much water per day as a small city. The largest ones use more than some Georgia counties.

Georgia Power asks regulators for 12% rate hike. Here's what's actually in the filing.

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 16:00:00 -0400

Georgia Power filed a 178-page rate case with the Georgia Public Service Commission on Monday asking for a roughly 12 percent average increase in residential base rates, effective January 1, 2027.

If approved in full, the increase would push the typical residential bill — already among the highest in the Southeast — by about $18 per month for a household using 1,000 kWh.

But the more revealing thing about the filing isn’t the headline number. It’s the breakdown of what’s actually driving it.