Savannah Mayor Van Johnson reiterated his warning in remarks made last week — no one is safe from the data center market growing in Georgia, including Savannah.
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“Savannah will not be immune from that pressure,” Johnson said. “The question really is whether we’re prepared for the proposals that will come tomorrow.”
Savannah has already been approached by a larger data center, according to the city’s press office. The city has accepted a permit for a smaller-scale data center under 25,000 square feet, while another remains pending.
But before any official applications for large-load data centers are filed, city officials said they need time to figure out what the city can and cannot permit to future applicants.
Savannah joined about 40 other municipalities imposing moratoriums on data centers in Georgia.
Its city council unanimously issued a 155-day moratorium on Thursday blocking large-load data centers over 10 megawatts, as well as the conversion of warehouses and industrial buildings over 200,000 square feet into data centers.
This pause will allow staff to evaluate what these facilities would require from the city’s water resources and energy grid as more of them crop up across the state.
This story comes to The Current GA through a reporting partnership with GPB News, a non-profit newsroom covering the state of Georgia.