Georgia governor-elect Bottoms pledges data center pause

Georgia governor-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms plans to use an executive order to pursue a temporary pause on new data center construction, as residents in Central Georgia challenge projects in court and say opposition to the developments shaped their election choices.

Bottoms has cited concerns about rising utility bills, electricity costs, water usage and environmental impacts. Her proposed moratorium would give the state time to consider further regulations and oversight.

In an interview with CBS Mornings, she outlined how she intends to begin.

"I will sign an executive order for that pause and then we will determine what else we need to do administratively to take that pause into effect", Bottoms said. "A lot of data centers are being built in Georgia because of the incentives attached to data centers."

Local challenges move forward

The pledge comes as residents in Jones and Twiggs counties pursue legal challenges involving data center development.

In Jones County, Chief Judge Alison T. Burleson last week rejected the county government's request to dismiss a lawsuit over a zoning change allowing data centers in industrial zones. The ruling permits the case to proceed.

The lawsuit, brought in February by 18 residents, contests an amendment county commissioners approved in January. That amendment made data centers a permitted use in M-2 industrial zones.

In neighboring Twiggs County, the proposed Pine Ridge Technology Center remains under appeal following legal challenges and community opposition. Eagle Rock Partners LLC and Thomas & Hutton Engineering have proposed the development for a 291.5-acre site off Adams Park Road in Dry Branch.

An issue that influenced votes

For Evan Pope, a Jones County resident and father of seven, concerns about data centers helped determine his vote for governor. A lifelong Georgian who describes his upbringing as rural and conservative, Pope said supporting Bottoms was a departure from his previous choices in major elections.

"This is the first time I've voted blue anywhere outside of a PSC election for governor, president, anything like that. It's the first time I voted blue on the ballot", Pope said.

Bottoms' calls for a moratorium and additional research aligned with his opposition to the developments.

"I don't want data centers in Georgia really at all. I don't like them", Pope said. "I felt like a vote for Governor-elect Bottoms is probably the right choice because she did campaign on data centers, moratoriums, more information, more research, not just rushing headfirst into this thing. And that was something I really fundamentally agree with."

Pope hopes a statewide halt would allow officials to examine potential impacts and develop regulations before more projects advance.

"I'm hopeful that a moratorium will allow us to do more research and bring in some regulation because, you know, we put a stop to it, and since we've done that in Jones County, we've found out more and more", Pope said. "So if we do that on a statewide level, then yeah, I'm very hopeful that we're going to find that."

Support for a pause across political lines

Longtime Twiggs County resident Roger Hill also expressed concern about the speed of data center development, particularly the lack of consistent standards among counties. He compared the industry's expansion with earlier economic bubbles.

"It just concerns me that at the pace that these things are being developed and approved, that we're creating a bubble like the dot-com bubble, like the housing bubble, that is, in the long run potentially going to have a negative effect on certain parts of the economy", Hill said.

Hill generally votes conservative but said he has backed Democratic candidates in recent Public Service Commission elections. He said data centers also influenced this year's election.

"That issue definitely had an effect on the election, and I tend to vote conservative", Hill said. "I would probably be open to a pause on them, just because I think everything is going very fast and it's done county by county. There's not really a level of standardization."

Although Hill did not support Bottoms in the governor's race, he said her position on a temporary moratorium is one he can support.

"I did not vote for her, but, you know, I don't disagree totally with anybody. I don't agree totally with anybody, and so I think she's on the right side of that", Hill said. "I do hope that she'll be a successful governor because we're gonna have her for four years at least. I hope that we'll see some good things for Georgia."

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