When it comes to data centers, Yvonne Cole Boone sees their proliferation across metro Atlanta as yet another example of bias.
The 67-year-old South Fulton resident has long been against the influx of data centers into her community. Black residents already deal with other burdens, she said, she doesn’t want to add data centers into the mix.
“Well, it’s going to impact us more,” Boone said. “Things like this always do because of the issues that are already there … a lack of green space, a lack of grocery stores.”
Boone said that the issue is driving her and her neighbors to the polls. Heading into the midterm election season, Black voters in the Atlanta area are fired up over the expansion of data centers in their communities. Some say it is the primary issue motivating their vote this fall. They also believe residents across the state share their fervor.
“That is going to be a very big topic because I myself am going to push it and there’s other people … who live in the city of South Fulton … we will be pushing that issue,” Boone said.
Metro Atlanta has become one of the fastest growing markets for data centers across the country. Black communities in South Fulton, DeKalb County, and Atlanta have pushed back, citing concerns over high water and energy use leading to higher utility bills. These fears have spurred some communities to enact moratoriums or ban data centers altogether.
In the Atlanta area recently:
- Around 20 data center projects were reportedly proposed in the southern portion of Fulton County, which is home to majority-Black cities like Union City and South Fulton.
- A data center was proposed in the predominantly Black community of Ellenwood in DeKalb County. The project was ultimately rejected by the county’s Board of Commissioners after protests from residents.
- A data center near the West End MARTA station is currently being debated by the Atlanta City Council amid significant community pushback.
Brionte McCorkle, executive director of the environmental advocacy group Georgia Conservation Voters, said upcoming state and local races could determine the future of data center development in communities throughout Georgia.
“Everybody who’s elected in Georgia, most of the statewide positions — the Public Service Commission, the governor, the state legislature … and even your local city council and county commissioners — have a role to play in standing with the community to push back against data centers,” McCorkle said.
“This is an issue that’s bridging Democrat, Republican, and independents,” she continued. “And we have not seen an issue so clearly uniting people — Black folks, white folks, poor people — it’s just got so many people up in arms.”
Some Black voters are particularly vulnerable to this issue. Lower-income Black households consistently face higher “energy burdens” compared to white households because of homes that are less energy-efficient, as well as historic disinvestment and discrimination. If utility rates rise as a result of data center growth, Black Georgians could experience additional financial burdens.
What are candidates saying?
Political candidates on both sides of the aisle are now being pushed to share their thoughts on how they would tackle data development.
In Georgia’s gubernatorial race, Democratic nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms has said the state needs to hold off on new data center projects.
“I just want us to pause. I just want to gather all the information — factual information — and then make a determination how we move forward,” Bottoms said at a Georgia Chamber of Commerce event last month.
Rick Jackson, the Republican nominee, has reportedly invested in a data center in Texas. At the same Chamber of Commerce event, he said the Georgia communities that want data centers shouldn’t have to hold off on development.
“They can eliminate, if it’s structured properly, property taxes in at least 70 counties we’ve got in this state. I want people to have a voice in that,” Jackson said.
In the state’s Senate race, Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff submitted an inquiry in April to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to find out how data centers are impacting people’s power bills.
In August, Mike Collins, the Republican nominee, said on a campaign stop in Augusta that development should be left to communities to decide.
“At the end of the day, it should be a local decision,” Collins said. “Do we need data centers? We sure do; we’re in a race for AI against China. But if it’s going to hurt local infrastructure, then those people don’t deserve for that to happen.”
What are voters saying?
An Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll in April found around 53% of likely Republican primary voters and 75% of Democratic voters disapprove of having a data center in their community.
In a recent survey, Science for Georgia found that about 83% of Georgians were in support of a statewide moratorium on data centers. At least 3 out of 4 residents wanted transparency laws and legal protections from data center infrastructure and power costs.
Tyrone Clemons, a resident of southwest Atlanta’s Pittsburgh neighborhood, said data centers are an issue that residents across the state will pay close attention to as they head to the polls.
“Regardless of your party affiliation, people don’t want this in their neighborhoods. They don’t want this in the community,” Clemons said. “They don’t want to have to pay the higher bills, the higher environmental costs, or even the emotional day-to-day costs of having these facilities.”
Clemons, 39, has been one of the residents speaking out against the data center being debated near the West End MARTA station. While the project was first proposed in 2024 and rejected by the City Council after community backlash, the development was put back on the table earlier this year — a move that Clemons said will influence how he votes in the state and local elections.
Gina Mangham, a resident in DeKalb County where the Board of Commissioners recently rejected a data center proposed for Ellenwood, told Capital B Atlanta this topic has the potential to drive people to the polls because it already did in her community.
Nicole Massiah, DeKalb’s District 3 commissioner, lost her primary contest after being accused by the county’s CEO, Lorraine Cochran-Johnson, of having undisclosed conversations with a data center developer.
Mangham also alleged that Massiah — who represents the district where the Ellenwood project was being proposed — was unresponsive to residents’ pushback to the plan.
“I think the real big issue was the planning department was recommending denial and she refused to make a motion to deny the project, and even in the end, she didn’t do it,” Mangham said.
Mangham is a member of DeKalb Citizens Coalition, a group of residents that have fought against data center development in the county. She said the issue of data centers boils down to residents feeling like their concerns are being ignored by their elected officials.
“I mean, with the outpouring of opposition … these politicians aren’t listening. The fact that we had to go down there every week to every [Board of Commissioners] meeting for a year — it says something,” Mangham continued.
As for Boone, she said she’s praying for change and hopes residents exercise their voting power in November.
“We all have onerous situations, but we have to lift our heads up and we have to vote, and it is the best thing that we can do,” she said. “So it’s time to look inward. It’s time to access your agency.”
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