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Data centers in Effingham County, Georgia: 1 project mapped
Effingham County, a county of about 75,000 people outside Savannah, woke up on July 22, 2026 to learn it would host one of the largest data centers in the country. OpenAI announced Project Camellia, a privately funded $20 billion campus of four buildings, about 4.4 million square feet, on a 1,400-acre tract of the Savannah Gateway Industrial Hub near Rincon. Georgia Power will supply 3.2 gigawatts of power in phases from 2028 to 2032 under a 25-year agreement, and OpenAI will provide up to a gigawatt of "flexible demand response" when the grid is strained, Georgia Power spokesman Joshua Peacock told The Current GA. The state's regional review later put peak load at 3,210 megawatts, which WTOC reported would make it the largest single electricity consumer in Georgia history, more than both new reactors at Plant Vogtle. The developer of record is Octans GA LLC, an OpenAI affiliate. OpenAI promised $80 million in community benefits, up to $71 million in Codex credits for Georgia students, 400 permanent jobs, and a closed-loop cooling system; the regional review estimates water use at about 30,000 gallons a day.
The deal was done before the public heard of it. According to The Current GA's reconstruction from records, Georgia Power brokered the first meeting between OpenAI and the county's Industrial Development Authority on Oct. 30, 2025. County officials, including the school superintendent, were briefed in February 2026. Local officials visited OpenAI's Abilene, Texas campus in the spring, and on May 6 OpenAI and Georgia Power representatives met Gov. Brian Kemp in his office. At an April 21 town hall the development authority's chief was reported as saying the agency was not actively considering a data center. The authority then approved the memorandum of understanding unanimously on Tuesday, July 21, at a meeting announced by email to seven people three business days ahead; three OpenAI delegates attended and no one from the public did. The 26-page memorandum commits Octans to invest $4 billion and create 80 jobs in each of five construction phases from 2028 to 2034. OpenAI will pay the equivalent of a 50 percent property tax rate at fixed 2026 millage for 15 years, about $870 million by the authority's estimate. County leaders say the revenue could help eliminate homestead property taxes. The land was already zoned for data centers, so no rezoning vote was needed. "It's a done deal," OpenAI's Aaron McLear told The Current GA.
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Residents did not see it that way. Nearly 1,000 people packed an OpenAI open house at the Effingham College & Career Academy in Rincon on July 23. "It stinks," said Larry Holloway, a retired paper mill worker. "That's not how democracy is supposed to work." Commissioner Roger Burdette, who went on the Abilene trip, told the crowd, "I changed my mind," and "You should trust us on this"; he said officials kept quiet because "We didn't want to scare them away." A petition against the project passed 10,000 signatures within days. Blandford Elementary School, with 941 pupils in 2025, is less than a mile from the site, and the industrial park sits in the Floridan aquifer's water use "Red Zone", where withdrawals have been cut to keep out salt water. Jeff Beauvais of One Hundred Miles said: "Obviously a lot of these details and decisions have already been made, and we're playing catch up."
The one formal review so far is advisory. The Coastal Regional Commission's 44-page Development of Regional Impact report, released in September, found parts of the site in the 100-year floodplain, wetlands on the tract, and the state-protected hooded pitcherplant growing on it, according to WTOC. It also estimated $20 million a year in local tax revenue at full build-out. In comments attached to the report, the Savannah Riverkeeper asked for binding assurances that the campus will use treated surface water, not groundwater, and that the developer pay for all grid upgrades. One Hundred Miles noted that the filing does not show where the backup diesel generators will go. Savannah will supply Effingham with wholesale water until the county's new surface water plant opens in early 2030. The county commission's consideration of the site plan is postponed at the developer's request while the county drafts stricter conditional-use rules, WTOC reported. The Public Service Commission can review, but not veto, the Georgia Power contract. Camden County has a moratorium on data centers, and Bulloch County to the north has had one since February, extended through December 31.
Data center projects on record in Effingham County
Grouped by the town each site sits in. The report above may name projects that have no record here yet.
Rincon1
| Project | Company | Status | Power | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Project CamelliaRincon | OpenAI | Proposed | 3,200 MW |
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Every project above is drawn from public records, filings and local reporting. Each row links to what it is based on. Statuses change, so check the source date before you rely on one. Found something wrong? Write to [email protected] and it gets fixed.