Over the last few months, I have seen column after column from special interest groups advocating for data centers.
One column discussed the overall advantage to the U.S. economy. You cannot deny the value of a data center to your local government. Data centers pay personal property taxes and real estate property taxes; the fiber and telecom carriers pay franchise fees; and your power companies pay franchise fees as well.
Data centers do not contribute to vehicular traffic and with rare exception does a data center call 911. They are no drain on local services. I have worked for a variety of data center providers in my time. Most data center providers have lobbyists. Special interest groups are paid advocates for their clients and politicians rarely have a background in telecommunications or physics.
This past legislative session those lobbyists did an incredible job keeping bills from the governor’s desk. I want to tell the story of why Georgia has so many data centers and who citizens should hold accountable for “rising costs.”
If tech companies are the hare, Georgia Power is the tortoise
Credit: hand
Credit: hand
Atlanta is one of about 10 data center hubs in America. For decades data centers wanted to be close to 56 Marietta Street in Atlanta. 56 Marietta Street is the most consequential commercial real estate parcel Atlanta has. This real estate connects the free world’s internet traffic to the Southeast.
If you live in Nashville, Huntsville, Jackson, Columbia, Charlotte or Mobile and you want to watch Netflix, your phone or TV pings a local tower, back to 56 Marietta, and goes to the Netflix data center and all the way back again with your show.
The closer you are to Atlanta, the less latency you typically see. Latency is the slow-moving red wheel while you are watching Netflix. Ten years ago, that was all there was to it. Today’s data center battle is with Georgia Power. Georgia Power is who legislators are afraid of and that is why they are never the scapegoat.
Access to power is what drives data center demand today. Georgia Power allowed companies to commit to a certain amount of consumption and Georgia Power would utilize their balance sheet to build out the necessary infrastructure.
In more recent years, Georgia has developed energy capacity problems. The growth of a few publicly traded content and AI companies have put Georgia Power in an expensive bind. Today, Georgia Power finds itself as the tortoise in “The Tortoise and the Hare.”
The hare in this illustration are social media companies, content companies and AI. Innovation has hypersonic tech companies partnered with a 4-stroke motor lawn mower charading as a power provider. Plant Vogtle took decades to build. Technology has had several life cycle changes in the last decade.
That is the problem of 2026, and it is a national problem to solve.
Data center costs should be spread across the country
Georgia Power offers data centers a significantly reduced rate over residential customers. They offer that rate for an extended period before renegotiation.
Why does a $3 trillion company like Microsoft receive an outsized rate reduction than average people in Georgia?
Microsoft can afford market rates. I am all in favor of capitalism, but it is disproportionately at your expense.
Companies like Facebook, Google and Amazon do not need state tax subsidies. They also do not require discounted power rates. Did you know that Georgia Power is guaranteed returns? Did you know Georgia Power owner Southern Company’s stock trades near all-time highs ($95 on April 13)? Southern Company is monopolistically protected by the federal government.
Look at data centers like the interstate system of the 1950s. 56 Marietta Street is the downtown connector. That is a blessing for the region. Times change and subsidies should change with them. Advanced manufacturing and life science industries might require subsidies. Those jobs can diversify Georgia’s workforce beyond the data center.
Should the “Magnificent 7” high-performing tech company stocks pillage your tax revenue for Alabama and Mississippi residents?
Some say that data centers may choose another state and some will. But they always have. Alabama and Mississippi would love to have 56 Marietta Street. Data center providers will overwhelmingly pick Georgia. Atlanta is their oxygen and AI is strategic for America. But those costs should be spread across the country, not just at home.
The Public Service Commission election losses by Republicans in 2025 was inevitable, but those same Republicans co-signed on giving the wealthiest companies a disproportionately better deal than average people. Both things can be true.
Georgia is better with data centers, but that is not the battle. The battle is literally and figuratively about power.
Ben Burnett is a business owner and former member of the Alpharetta City Council. He is a Republican. He is a contributor to the AJC.
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