Backgrounder: Data Centers
- Floyd County Democrats
- May 28
- 5 min read
Contents
What is a data center?
Every time you stream a video, send an email, make a purchase online, or use a smartphone app, your request travels to and from a data center somewhere in the world.
Data centers range from small server rooms to warehouse-scale campuses covering hundreds of thousands of square feet. They operate continuously, 24 hours a day, and require enormous amounts of electricity to run and cool the computers. Modern facilities are built to serve artificial intelligence workloads, which are far more power-intensive than traditional computing.
This site focuses on proposals for data center development in Floyd County, Georgia — and what residents, elected officials, and local experts have to say about them.
Why are data centers controversial?
The debate typically centers on four key issues:
Energy consumption. A single large data center can consume as much electricity as a small city. This strains local power grids, can drive up rates for residents, and raises questions about whether the energy comes from clean or fossil fuel sources.
Water use. Cooling systems in data centers consume millions of gallons of water per year, creating direct competition with agriculture, households, and natural ecosystems.
Community impact. Data centers are largely automated and create relatively few local jobs despite their massive footprint. They can occupy land that might otherwise serve agricultural, residential, or recreational purposes, and generate noise from cooling systems.
Tax incentives & oversight. To attract data centers, many states and localities offer substantial tax breaks — sometimes worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Critics question whether these deals benefit ordinary residents, and whether local governments have the tools to hold companies accountable.
What's happening in Floyd County?
Microsoft Rome Data Center (Project Firecracker): A 347-acre campus located on Huffaker Road (east of Fouche Gap Road). Projected to break ground and become operational in the late 2020s. There is a 12 year tax abatement
Project Gracie (Atlas Development): A proposed 2.4 million-square-foot, seven-building campus planned on a greenfield site along Vann Road NW, between Rome and Coosa. Full build-out is expected by the end of 2032.
Coosa Data Center (Atlas Development): A 114-acre development located directly behind Coosa High School. The Rome-Floyd Development Authority approved the land sale in late 2024 to pave the way for this project.
Battey Business Complex (Atlas Development): A $5.7 million project located on North Division Street at the site of the former Northwest Georgia Regional Hospital. Atlas Development is clearing the site for redevelopment into a high-tech data center hub.
In 2025, Atlas Development LLC proposed the Battey Business Complex — a data center project at the former Northwest Georgia Regional Hospital site at 705 N. Division Street in Rome. The proposal set off an immediate community response. Residents organized, questions were raised about whether proper public notice had been given, and a local citizens' group called Oppose Atlas DC Battey filed formal complaints with the Georgia Attorney General's Office, alleging that the Rome-Floyd County Development Authority violated the state's Open Meetings Act when it approved a purchase and sale agreement with the developer without adequately notifying the public — or even Rome and Floyd County commissioners.
Within weeks of launching, the group's Change.org petition had gathered more than 440 signatures. What started as a Facebook group sharing information and concerns had become an organized civic force.
Residents have raised a range of concerns: noise, the impact on a historic site, strain on local infrastructure, and the fundamental question of whether a project of this kind serves the community's long-term interests. As one local organizer put it, "I'm not against data centers per se, but I am deeply skeptical of the actual benefits to our community despite what we keep hearing."
What happened in Atlanta — and why it matters here
In early 2026, Georgia lawmakers introduced a wave of bills to rein in data center growth, including a statewide moratorium, ratepayer protections, and an end to the generous tax breaks that have cost Georgia an estimated $450 million in a single year. Rome's own Sen. Chuck Hufstetler introduced Senate Bill 34, aimed specifically at protecting residential electricity customers from paying for infrastructure built to serve data centers.
None of it passed. The 2026 legislative session ended without meaningful action. Industry lobbyists prevailed, and communities across Georgia were left to fight these battles largely on their own.
What you can do
Here are some ways Floyd County residents can get involved:
Stay informed. ➡️ Follow We say NO! to Atlas Development's data center and their public group The Walking Sign on Facebook. ➡️ Attend Rome City Commission and Floyd County Commission meetings where these issues come up.
Make your voice heard. ➡️ Sign the Change.org petition if you haven't already. ➡️ Contact your state legislators and let them know you expect action in the next legislative session. The 2026 elections are an opportunity to hold officials accountable — data center opposition has already helped flip seats on the Georgia Public Service Commission. ➡️ Put up a sign. You can go to Hi-Tech Signs (1018 N 5th Ave, Rome) and ask for one of the Battey Data Center signs. ➡️ Join the email campaign to Chris Carr, the Attorney General.
Demand transparency. ➡️ Ask your local officials whether any non-disclosure agreements have been signed with developers. You have a right to know what deals are being made in your name.
Connect with the bigger picture. Georgia is not alone. More than 188 local opposition groups are now active across 40 states. ➡️ Organizations like Food & Water Watch and Data Center Watch (datacenterwatch.org) track the national movement and offer resources for local organizers. ➡️ Be informed, starting with some of the trusted sources listed below.
A few trusted overview sources
Food & Water Watch — "The Urgent Case Against New Data Centers" foodandwaterwatch.org (March 2026) Documents tax giveaways to data centers — including $450 million lost by Georgia in 2024 alone — and makes the case that promised jobs rarely materialize, with some of the largest centers employing as few as 25 permanent workers. Food & Water Watch
Pew Research Center — "What We Know About Energy Use at U.S. Data Centers Amid the AI Boom" pewresearch.org
World Resources Institute — "From Energy Use to Air Quality, the Many Ways Data Centers Affect US Communities" wri.org Electricity price impacts, water use, the $64 billion worth of projects delayed by community opposition, and the governance gaps created when developers use NDAs with local officials. World Resources Institute
ProPublica — "Power Hungry" series (propublica.org, 2024–present) A joint investigation by ProPublica and The Seattle Times into how Washington state's data center tax break — which has cost the state more than $474 million since 2018 — strayed from its original promises, with the state unable to say how many jobs it actually created. ProPublica
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