Tuesday, July 28, 2026
This newsletter was updated on July 28 at 4:13 p.m. to correct the timing of the data center announcement and the Washington meeting attended by Gov. Kemp. The announcement occurred July 22; the meeting took place July 23.
Good morning! In the news today: confusion and anger over an announced data center in Effingham; Chatham County schools take on cell phones; and Democrats come to Savannah for their state convention. Questions, comments, or story ideas? You can reach me at craig.thecurrent@gmail.com.
NEWS: POLITICS
Credit: Justin Taylor/The Current GA/CatchLight/Report for America
Transparency
The day after Effingham County and OpenAI officials announced a plan to build a $20 billion data center in Effingham County, Gov. Brian Kemp was a guest of the Trump administration in Washington.
The occasion was a ceremony lauding a pledge by utilities, data center developers, cooperatives, and states not to stick American businesses and households with the bill for the prodigious electricity needs of data centers.
Minutes after drawing praise from President Donald Trump for fending off “some negative stuff” about data centers, Kemp bemoaned what he called the “misinformation” besetting the nationwide debate over them. “It’s so hard fighting through some of the negative press and some of the anti-AI, anti-data center — really, anti-everything — groups that are out there,” he said.
Seated nearby was Chris Womack, CEO of Southern Company, Georgia Power’s parent company. The previous month, speaking at the Aspen Ideas Institute, Womack had rued the lack of awareness about data centers and energy companies, too. There’s a “lot of misinformation,” he said, while acknowledging “there’s lot of things we simply don’t know at this early stage” of the “AI transformation.”
Yet what’s most striking about the reporting by The Current’s Daneen Khan, Kelly Lu, Margaret Coker, Mary Landers and Sarah Harwell about the bipartisan public outcry that has greeted the announcement of the Effingham data center, nicknamed “Project Camellia,” is that the problem isn’t misinformation; it’s the lack of information, at all — most notably the fact that a copy of the memorandum of understanding reached between OpenAI and Effingham officials hasn’t been released to the public.
In an interview with Politico conducted last week and published Monday, Kemp said the proposed Effingham data center wasn’t a “dead of the night” undertaking. OpenAI “had met with local officials and utilities in advance.”
As of late Monday, U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff and Coastal Georgia Congressman Buddy Carter hadn’t waded publicly into the furor over the planned data center. Nor had state Sen. Billy Hickman and Reps. Jon Burns and Bill Hitchens, who represent Effingham County in the General Assembly.
Burns’ silence is notable: As House speaker, he bears at least some responsibility for failing to shepherd any meaningful data center measures through the legislature during its most recent session. Only U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock appears to have been moved to action by last week’s announcement, as he again raised questions again about the centers and their tradeoffs for local communities.
Data center proponents of data centers, meanwhile, are rushing to win over the public in the state. The Georgia Chamber of Commerce has launched its own alliance of local and statewide businesses who support data center expansion in the state.
Nationwide, Leading the Future, a super PAC, is ramping up for midterm and 2028 elections. It oversees a network of pro-AI industry super PACs and nonprofits aimed at defeating candidates who support the strictest AI regulations. Its bankroll? $100 million.
NEWS: EDUCATION
Phone withdrawal
Savannah-Chatham County public schools are back in session next week, and school superintendent Denise Watts couldn’t be clearer about what she described as the “biggest visible change” in the school year ahead: no cell phones.
Under legislation passed by the General Assembly and signed into law last year, K-12 students are barred from using smartphones, smartwatches, and other “personal internet-connected devices” from the opening bell to the closing one. The law is scheduled to go into effect next year. SCCPSS decided to get started early.
Speaking at Tremont Temple Baptist Church at a mass meeting of the NAACP’s Savannah Branch on Sunday, Watts said students will have the option of leaving their devices at home or storing them in a locker during the school day, which runs 5-7 hours, depending on the grade level.
She urged parents to talk to their children this week about the deprivation that lay ahead. “We may need to start having kids just put their phones up for a couple hours every day, right?”
The superintendent minced no words about the challenge ahead. “Phones are an addiction, and we all have addictions, whether we want to admit to them or not.” (Her addiction, she confessed, is ice cream.)
“It’s not a perfect plan,” Watts admitted. “We’ll probably need to make some adjustments along the way.”
NEWS: POLITICS
13 things for your radar
- Democrats coming to town, as the state party holds its convention on Saturday at the Savannah Convention Center. For more information, click here.
- Keisha Lance Bottoms, the Democratic Party’s candidate for governor, is focusing on health care as she tours southeast Georgia this week in the run-up to the party’s state convention this weekend in Savannah. She’s scheduled to visit Statesboro and Jesup on Wednesday; Woodbine and Brunswick on Thursday; and Richmond Hill on Friday. For more information on times and locations, click here.
- Democratic congressional candidate Amanda Hollowell kicks off her general election campaign on Friday at St. Philip Monumental AME Church at 112 Jefferson St. in Savannah starting at 5:30 p.m. She’ll also host a coffee chat on Sunday from 8 a.m.-10 a.m. at Savannah Coffee Roasters, 215 W. Liberty St.
- Hollowell and other Georgia Democratic congressional candidates hold a meet-and-greet on Friday from 2-4 p.m. at the Municipal Grand, 45 Abercorn St., Savannah.
- Chatham County Democrats host late-night drinks at the legendary Pinkie Masters at 318 Drayton St. starting at 9 p.m. on Friday. Cash only.
- Friends of Peter Hubbard, who is seeking reelection to Georgia’s Public Service Commission, are hosting an evening with the commissioner and fundraiser on Saturday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at White Whale Craft Ales at 1207 Bull St. in Savannah.
- Rick Jackson, the GOP’s candidate for governor, visits St. Marys today on the second day of a two-day bus tour of south Georgia. He was scheduled to visit Blakely and Thomasville on Monday. Today, he’s set for a stop at Seagle’s Restaurant, 105 Osborne St, St. Marys, at 5 p.m.
- The Effingham County Board of Commissioners will hold a special called meeting on the special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST) this evening at 5 p.m. at 804 S. Laurel St. in Springfield.
- The House Ethics Committee has stopped investigating Brandon Phillips, former chief of staff for U.S. Senate candidate Mike Collins, because he’s no longer a government employee. Collins fired Philipps in May following a social media post that mocked a woman who said she had she had been raped by former NBC host Matt Lauer. Collins himself remains under investigation.
- The Democratic National Committee chooses South Carolina to hosts the first Democratic presidential primary of 2028.
- Camden County’s summer town hall meetings hosted by interim county administrator Joey Yacobacci begin this week, with a gathering Friday in Waverly. For more information, click here.
- U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock calls for Democrats to investigate officials who he says have “manipulated their maps to silence the voices of Black voters.”
- As of July 1, 2026, there were nearly 700 individual warehouse developments in the greater Savannah area, according to data collected by Savannah Riverkeeper, Ogeechee Riverkeeper, and One Hundred Miles.
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In partisan times, are data centers the one thing to unite people?
In various Georgia communities, residents and political leaders from opposing parties are forming unexpected alliances to address concerns regarding potential data center developments and their impacts on natural resources.
Gov. Kemp backs Georgia data centers despite worries about AI’s risks
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp criticized proposals for a statewide moratorium on data center construction, arguing that such pauses are irresponsible despite expressing concerns over the potential risks of artificial intelligence.
Georgia lawmakers weigh data center regulations as industry ramps PR efforts
A data center industry advocacy group launched a digital marketing campaign to improve public perception of electricity-intensive facilities amidst growing statewide opposition and failed legislative attempts to regulate them.
As Effingham County data center plan advances, next step is state evaluation process
OpenAI has signed a deal with Effingham County for a $20 billion data center. But details about environmental impact, site design and water use remain opaque.
Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp joins UNESCO’s World Heritage List
Several sites, including the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia, a Thai Buddhist temple, and South Korean tidal flats, were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List during a committee meeting in Busan on Saturday, July 25, 2026.
2 Effingham voters quiz their commissioner: Why a data center? Why so secret?
Effingham County residents had questions during a heated meeting regarding the lack of transparency surrounding a proposed $20 billion OpenAI data center project.
Kemp, GOP governors join Trump pledge to shield ratepayers from data center costs
President Donald Trump expanded his Ratepayer Protection Pledge on Thursday to include nearly 200 additional stakeholders, including several Republican governors and tech companies, in an effort to ensure data center operators cover their own infrastructure and energy costs.
OpenAI data center project sparks outrage among Effingham County residents
“It’s a done deal. It was the right fit for everyone,” a senior OpenAI official said about the planned Georgia data center. Nearly 1000 people disagree.
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