Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026
Good morning! Today we’re looking at what needs to happen next to supply OpenAI with the massive amount of energy required for its Effingham County data center. Then we turn to peanuts and how a Georgia nonprofit providing food aid overseas pivoted in the face of funding cuts. Finally, we have an update on a three-year effort to rewrite the zoning for a Gullah Geechee enclave on Sapelo Island.
Questions, tips or concerns? Send me a note at mary.landers@thecurrentga.org
GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT: NEWS
Credit: Justin Taylor/The Current GA/CatchLight/Report for America
PSC reviews OpenAI contract
Georgia’s Public Service Commission is currently reviewing a contract between Georgia Power and OpenAI for a $20 billion data center in Effingham County, as The Current GA’s Mary Landers reports. The agreement involves delivering 3.2 gigawatts of energy starting in 2028. While the contract is expected to go into effect in August 2026, Commissioner Peter Hubbard raised concerns regarding long-term financial liability for ratepayers and the lack of clean energy provisions. Former Commissioner Fitz Johnson, who’s running against Hubbard, said safeguards he helped put in place are sufficient.
BUSINESS: NEWS
Patriotic peanuts to the rescue
After federal funding cuts forced a shift in strategy, Georgia-based nonprofit Mana Nutrition successfully relaunched its Good Spread peanut butter line to combat domestic food insecurity, The Current GA’s Kelley Lu reports. By partnering with Feeding America and local retailers, the company uses retail profits to subsidize low-cost peanut butter for food banks while continuing its international humanitarian mission. This initiative aims to stabilize the organization’s revenue stream following significant changes to U.S. foreign aid administration.
COMMUNITY: NEWS
Sapelo zoning advances
The McIntosh County Planning & Zoning Board on Tuesday voted unanimously to recommend a proposed zoning ordinance to limit house size on Sapelo Island to 1,550 square feet under roof with an additional 400-square-foot porch. At the public hearing preceding the vote, seven supporters of the Gullah Geechee community of Hogg Hummock spoke against the ordinance, most indicating that while it was an improvement over previous versions that allowed larger houses, it could still be better. The three-year battle over house size in Hogg Hummock revolves around a fear of gentrification and the higher taxes that could drive the remaining Gullah Geechee people out of their ancestral home.
The McIntosh County Commission will hold a hearing on the zoning at 5 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 6 at the Old City Hall, Darien, followed by a vote to finalize the ordinance.
Also noted
- More than a dozen coastal advocates joined a paddle sponsored by One Hundred Miles Saturday on Wilmington Island. At Turners Creek Boat Ramp they waved hand-made signs protesting newly proposed rules that would allow private recreational dock walkways to double in size, by allowing them to be 6 feet wide and cover more than a tenth of an acre of marsh.
- The Georgia Department of Transportation is surveying the public through Aug. 6 to gauge interest in Atlanta-to-Savannah rail service. The survey includes questions about how much passengers would be willing to pay for a regular passenger train and how much for a more costly high-speed option.
- Environmentalists are suing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over a plan to fast track the process for determining how a natural gas pipeline will cross sensitive waterways on its route across central Georgia from Augusta to Macon, GPB’s Gillian Magtoto reports. Kinder Morgan, one of North America’s largest energy infrastructure companies, plans to build 500 miles of natural gas pipelines across three states, including Georgia.
We want to meet your friends! If you like this newsletter be sure to share it. And, if someone shared this with you, click here to sign up for regular delivery!
Good Spread peanut butter a ‘win-win’ for communities in U.S., abroad
After USAID cuts, the Georgia-based nonprofit Mana Nutrition relaunched its Good Spread peanut butter line to subsidize food bank distributions and combat domestic hunger.
State regulator reviews OpenAI-Georgia Power contract
Georgia’s Public Service Commission is reviewing OpenAI’s electricity contract for a $20 billion data center in Effingham County.
Woodbine citizens seek to recall council members over financial, transparency concerns
Residents of Woodbine held a tense town hall meeting to demand accountability for five years of missing financial audits and ongoing transparency issues that have jeopardized the city’s grant eligibility and municipal charter.
The Current GA is part of The Trust Project.
Read our policies.
Support independent, solutions-based investigative journalism without bias, fear or favor on issues affecting Savannah and Coastal Georgia.
WITH GENEROUS SUPPORT FROM
This email was sent to *|EMAIL|*
Unsubscribe from this newsletter — Opt out of all emails from *|LIST:COMPANY|*
*|LIST_ADDRESSLINE_TEXT|**|IF:REWARDS|*
*|HTML:REWARDS|* *|END:IF|*
You must be logged in to post a comment.