Local government and business leaders say data centers are a central part of conversations on economic development in south Metro Atlanta. With big tech companies expected to invest $320 billion in artificial intelligence in 2025, there’s an increasing need for data centers, and that means revenue for the tax base.
During the South Metro Development Outlook Conference on Wednesday, officials said that as business and personal demand for technology surge, data centers are considered a “bad word” by some residents, but they will continue to become a part of the infrastructure.
Not long ago, walkable neighborhoods where residents could live, work, and play were the main draw for cities looking at redevelopment. While the mixed-use communities are still wanted across metro Atlanta, those big building centers that store and process data are also adding money to the tax base.
Niki Vanderslice, president and chief executive officer of the Fayette County Development Authority, said property taxes for the QTS Data Center project in Fayetteville amounted to more than $1 million in 2024. In 2016, property taxes on the then-county-owned land would’ve been $31,000, Vanderslice said. The project, which has completed one of three buildings, sits on 615 acres.
Vanderslice was joined on an economic development panel with Sarah Jacobs, president, and chief executive officer at Coweta Development Authority, Sarah-Elizabeth Langford, executive director at the Development Authority of Fulton County, Erica Rocker, economic development officer of Clayton County, Eloisa Klementich, president and chief executive officer at Invest Atlanta and Breezy Staton, vice president at Elevate Douglas Economic Partnership.
Straton said data centers became an economic strategy in Douglas County in 2011. The county population was increasing, and officials were unable to keep up with infrastructure needs, she said.
Douglas learned that data centers “would bring a little bit of jobs and a lot of tax revenue, but also not impact the community in a negative way,” Straton said.
There are five data centers operating in the county now, and a total of 10 are expected to be online by the end of 2028.
“Which is a lot for a county that is only 201 square miles, Straton added.
During a panel conversation on the impact of technology innovations, Georgia Power Regional Executive Melissa Free said that three years ago, the company had not predicted the advances of artificial intelligence or the proliferation of data centers.
“We can all feel the growth happening around us at an unprecedented rate,” Free said. “Our ability to not only plan but to adapt is vital.”
With advances in AI, Georgia Power is planning over 8,000 megawatts of electrical load growth over the next 6 years, plus an increase of more than 2200 MWs during peak demand.
Free added that electric vehicles are also drawing on demand for power. There were 150,000 electric vehicles on Georgia highways in 2024, and that number is expected to triple by 2030, she said.
During the conference, officials hinted that there is a need to find a balance between data centers and different types of building development.
The night before the South Metro conference, residents crowded into a city council meeting in Union City to voice objections to a proposal that would add data centers as a condition used in the office industrial zoning district. The city already allows data centers in other districts, including Microsoft’s 2.1 million square foot data center project.
Young professionals who spoke during public comment said they’ve grown tired of warehouses in the city and want walkable mixed-use communities similar to Alpharetta’s Avalon in north metro Atlanta.
City Council approved the conditional-use measure in a split vote in which Mayor Vince Williams cast the deciding vote in favor of the action.
At the Wednesday conference, Straton said Douglas County and other nearby counties have undeveloped land, but they must have adequate road infrastructure, water and sewer, power and more to attract new development.
Douglas has 1,100 of 7,000 acres that it’s targeting for a shift away from recruiting more data centers. The county is now recruiting healthcare, life sciences, media entertainment and fintech industries.
“If you’re in economic development and you don’t have a product, you can’t win projects…” Straton said.
$1 million dollars in taxes is chump change relative to county budgets – and relative to their public harms! The data center industry claims that it pays huge property taxes but it doesn’t. In the more stringent counties like Fulton, they are wildly under-appraised and also given tax breaks. In the laxer counties, they don’t pay property taxes on their value at all. They negotiate a token payment like the $1 million cited here.
IT and electrical infrastructure in the south metro are subpar compared to more affluent areas. Are the Southside residents now going to have to bear higher utility bills and enjoy fewer amenities so that others can enjoy the services data centers provide?