Thomas Ehlers

Bottom Photos Courtesy of GA Power

Augusta’s economy has always evolved with the times.

From its days as a primary source of munitions during the Civil War to the impact of the U.S. Armed Forces’ investment across the region to the rise of the retail and tourism economy centered around the Masters, the city’s economic engines have started and restarted again to best accommodate the needs of the community.

Today, Augusta once again stands at the proverbial crossroads, with ample resources being poured into the potential and promise around countless technological advancements, including artificial intelligence, data storage and numerous other products and platforms. The foundation of that infrastructure is data centers, which pack the punch needed to power these investments.

And, as with any shift in the landscape, these investments aren’t without their own scrutiny as local leaders aim to balance the possibilities and pitfalls of their impact.

Many proposed, ongoing and completed projects can be seen across the greater Augusta area. Project Azalea in McDuffie County is a proposed campus totaling six data center buildings, spanning 200 acres of land in Thomson, and, according to filings, the project could be completed by 2029.

Three more proposed data center projects advanced in Columbia County Planning Commission meetings in January. The commission voted to approve the rezoning of three separate projects — each a combination of industrial, residential and agricultural lands — to data center lands, more than 4,000 rezoned acres.

And Project Eisenhower, a $2 billion project by QTS Data Centers, will include six two-story buildings across 170 acres of land near Fort Gordon, totaling more than 2.15 million square feet — roughly twice the size of the Augusta Mall.

According to Georgia Power East Region Executive Kerry Bridges, there are three main types of data centers: hyperscalers, co-locaters and individual data centers. Hyperscalers are extreme complexes that typically are built and operated by leading tech companies, including Meta, Amazon Web Services and Google. These are less common due to their size and capability.

Co-locators are developed by a company that then sells capacity inside its data center to businesses or commercial entities that need data storage needs. Other companies rent portions of the space, paying to store their data at the co-locator while also contributing to the upkeep costs of the center.

Individual data centers are developed and operated by the same company, such as a health system or financial business that has highly protected or classified information or simply wants to be in control of its own data.

These data centers bring a number of jobs, both in construction and the STEM-centered roles of their operation. They also bring a large amount of property tax revenues, helping offset the tax burden on counties and cities, which can help improve school systems and city/county operations.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t community concerns.