To: Residents of DeKalb have made it clear: Want no hyperscale data centers or data center campuses in DeKalb County!
No Hyperscale Data Centers or Data Center Campuses in DeKalb County!
What can we do?
Already, resistance from local communities along with electronics bottlenecks have forced roughly half of all US data center developments to be canceled or delayed. In DeKalb County, a proposed text amendment regulating data center developments will come before the Board of Commissions for a vote after another public hearing on May 12, 2026 @ 8:30 a.m. at 178 Sams Street, Decatur, GA 30030. The current moratorium on data center developments expires on June 23. It's crucial that residents show up and show out to express their opposition to data centers in DeKalb. Ahead of the May 12th meeting, sign and share this petition, call and email the commissioners, and make it clear that you will not accept extractive economic "development" at the continued cost of our community's health and well-being
Why is this important?
Background
The growth of artificial intelligence (AI) is driving rapid expansion of in data infrastructures, including hyperscale data centers and data center campuses, fossil fuel power plants, and transmission lines. Data centers consume vast amounts of water and power and are expected to cost Georgia residents $2.5 billion in tax breaks in 2027 alone. The Public Service Commission (PSC) recently approved Georgia Power's request for 10GW of additional natural gas power generation, despite data centers only having made 3GW worth of power commitments. In fact, Georgia Power's demand estimates only have a 1 in 500 chance of realizing, almost guaranteeing that Georgia residents will bear the cost of power expansions via rate increases down the road. Adding insult to injury, long-term job creation is limited at best and one of the major AI companies driving data center expansion says a white-collar Great Recession is not off the table. Recent research suggests that data centers create miles-wide heat islands and emit dangerous levels of infrasound, sound waves that fall below the range of human hearing but have a broad range of health impacts. Research on potential health and environmental effects is often overlooked, begging the question: What other harms of data center development will we discover after it's too late?
The growth of artificial intelligence (AI) is driving rapid expansion of in data infrastructures, including hyperscale data centers and data center campuses, fossil fuel power plants, and transmission lines. Data centers consume vast amounts of water and power and are expected to cost Georgia residents $2.5 billion in tax breaks in 2027 alone. The Public Service Commission (PSC) recently approved Georgia Power's request for 10GW of additional natural gas power generation, despite data centers only having made 3GW worth of power commitments. In fact, Georgia Power's demand estimates only have a 1 in 500 chance of realizing, almost guaranteeing that Georgia residents will bear the cost of power expansions via rate increases down the road. Adding insult to injury, long-term job creation is limited at best and one of the major AI companies driving data center expansion says a white-collar Great Recession is not off the table. Recent research suggests that data centers create miles-wide heat islands and emit dangerous levels of infrasound, sound waves that fall below the range of human hearing but have a broad range of health impacts. Research on potential health and environmental effects is often overlooked, begging the question: What other harms of data center development will we discover after it's too late?