Data centers in Jackson County, Georgia: 1 project mapped

Imagery: Esri, Maxar

Maysville, a town of just over 2,000 that straddles the Banks and Jackson county line, is where Northern Data, now owned by Rumble's parent company, plans an AI data center that residents have fought since spring 2026. Northern Data Group, a German company, has owned land in the town's industrial park on the Jackson County side since 2018, when it bought four acres off Industrial Drive, adding a 53-acre tract on Meeks Road in 2021. A 2024 company announcement put a new AI and high-performance computing data center there at 120 megawatts, expandable to 180 MW, and quoted a then city councilor welcoming the franchise fees. The city says zoning for it was approved in January 2025; residents argue it was only a conditional use permit. In June 2026 Rumble's parent, RUM Group, completed its purchase of Northern Data. The plan is now two 125,000-square-foot buildings, which the company says will take 12 months to build once it has a building permit.

The project drew wide opposition in spring 2026. At informational meetings on May 18 and May 28, 2026, residents confronted city officials; one shouted, "I want my water fixed, I want to be able to drink water in this city." When a resident asked Mayor Richard Presley whether the city's roughly $350,000 in franchise tax was worth children's health, he answered, "Yes it is." The site is near Maysville Elementary School. The city then canceled a special Q&A meeting, saying the hearings had already been held. Access North Georgia reported that European authorities had been investigating Northern Data over Nvidia chips bought for AI that prosecutors suspect were used for crypto mining. The Jackson Herald reported that on July 16 the city put a 180-day moratorium on any future requests.

At a July 28 town hall at the Jackson County Agricultural Facility, Northern Data CEO John Hoffman and RUM Group COO Tyler Hughes offered a legally binding community benefit agreement worth $15 million, projected $20 million a year in taxes for the city, county and schools, 50 jobs, closed-loop cooling with water trucked in rather than drawn from the city system, and no tax abatements. "There was previous leadership before us," Hughes said of the investigation. The developers estimated 10-year property taxes of $79.4 million for Jackson County, $178 million for Jackson County Schools and $2.5 million for Maysville at a $6.7 billion investment. At the meeting Councilor Brodriche Jackson told them, "I don't like being lied to," saying they had professed ignorance about the power station two weeks earlier; afterwards he said, "I feel like they betrayed our people," and Councilor Amanda Farley said the company thinks "they can come in here and just run over us." Resident Carissa Dawn Martin pointed out that Georgia Public Service Commission rules shielding ratepayers from data center costs run only to 2030 or 2031 and should be written into the benefit agreement.

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.