Taking a Pause on Data Centers

Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026

Good morning! In the news today: data center whirlwind; looming price hikes for healthcare insurance; and GOP messaging for the midterms. Finally, we note some things for your radar. Questions, comments, or story ideas? You can reach me at craig.thecurrent@gmail.com.

---

NEWS: GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT

Whirlwinds and moratoriums

Savannah’s city council has joined Bulloch County in Coastal Georgia in declaring a moratorium on data centers. “We need to set the rules for Savannah before the market sets it for us,” Mayor Van Johnson told the council last week, describing the pressure over data centers bearing down on communities across the state.

There was no need for Johnson to mention Effingham County, where residents a struggling to understand the details and ramifications of the agreement reached in secret between the county’s development authority and tech giant OpenAI to build a $20 billion data center near Rincon.

Like U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, who called for a statewide moratorium on data centers during a visit to Effingham last week, Johnson spelled out the task at hand, not only for Savannah but for every city and town caught in the whirlwind.

“We have to fully understand what this means for our electrical grid, for our water resources, for our infrastructure capacity, our land use, what it means for our neighborhoods and our taxpayers . . . and whether the economic benefits are worth it over long-term impacts,” the mayor said.

On Monday, President Trump ratcheted up the political pressure, writing on his Truth Social website:

“The only reason that communities throughout the U.S.A. should not want Data Centers is if they want to end up being backwards and poor. If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign. The good news is that there are plenty of other places that want them. If we kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame. China could not be happier with this anti Data Center movement. Actually, they can’t believe it is happening!”

Not all members of the president’s party agree. Sporting a sequined “Make America Great” hat, a 60-year-old critical care nurse from Effingham who attended Rick Jackson’s rally in Savannah couldn’t have been more boosterish about her party (“I don’t trust Democrats. I would never vote for a Democrat”) — except when it came to data centers.

“I’m not crazy about the data center” in Effingham, said the woman, who gave “Diana” as her name. “I’m concerned. I need some questions answered. There are just too many questions for me.”

---

---

NEWS: HEALTH CARE

Not ‘sustainable’

Georgia Access, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance program that covers 900,000 Georgians, is on track to see price hikes of as much as 20% or more when open enrollment begins this fall for 2027 coverage, Ariel Hart of Georgia Recorder reports.

Those increases are in addition to the massive price increases that already occurred for 2026 coverage after U.S. Congress and President Donald Trump allowed pandemic-era ACA subsidies to expire.

The exact increases in premiums aren’t yet known. Among the factors yet to be determined: State officials are still in negotiations with insurance companies over their proposed price increases ahead of Nov. 1, the date open enrollment begins.

But worries are soaring. Hospitals wonder how they will be able to accommodate uninsured walk-ins in need of free care. Said one self-employed Georgian Fayette County who already dropped her ACA coverage after prices skyrocketed last year: “I honestly don’t think this is sustainable for people.”

---

---

NEWS: POLITICS

‘What we need to be doing’

Coastal Georgia Congressman Buddy Carter has some advice for Republican candidates in this fall’s elections: Stick with President Trump.

During an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Nation” on Sunday, Carter was asked about the “message that president is handing to Republicans right now.”

“Trump has had more consequential results than just about any modern president,” Carter replied, two days after Trump declared himself the greatest president in U.S. history. Trump had secured the border, made us more prosperous, and delivered on his promises, Carter said. “I’m running on his record. I’m not running away from his record. … That’s what we need to be doing.”

Rick Jackson is one Republican who doesn’t appear to be heeding that advice. Carter, who came in third place in the GOP U.S. Senate primary in May, was one of the prominent local Republicans who introduced the party’s candidate for governor at a rally on Saturday in Savannah. During his 24-minute speech, Jackson didn’t mention Trump’s name once.

---

NEWS: PUBLIC SAFETY

9 things for your radar

• State Rep. Rick Townsend (R-Brunswick), chair of a special state committee examining the impact of kratom products on minors, praises new federal regulations criminalizing three potent opioids found in kratom products. The Current’s Justin Taylor recently investigated the flood of such spiked products in Georgia and its lethal consequences.
• Savannah officials to hold an open house to discuss plans for the city’s Canal District on Tuesday, Sept. 1, from 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. at the ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center at 301 W. Oglethorpe.
• The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia and the Statesboro-based Georgia Southern University agree to pay $250,000 to settle a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by a GSU employee who was fired after she raised concerns about the university’s unwillingness to apply for a grant to fund gender-affirming care, The Current’s Jabari Gibbs reports.
• “I’m ready to debate Rick Jackson in Atlanta, Macon, and Savannah,” Keisha Lance Bottoms, the Democratic candidate for governor, announced Monday, challenging her opponent to six debates, including one in Savannah hosted by WJCL-TV on Oct. 13. The Jackson campaign has agreed only to participate in a town-hall debate on Oct. 6.
• “If we don’t stop Jon Ossoff in Georgia, this guy is going to be a problem for the United States in 2028,” U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, his Republican opponent in this fall’s election, tells a Republican Jewish Coalition gathering in Las Vegas on Sunday. “He’s really running for president, and he is going to be the DSA (Democratic Socialists of America) candidate for president.” Collins’ appearance at the RJC event came five days after what Ossoff, at a news conference in Macon, described as “more evidence of a sitting congressman’s extensive ties to white nationalism and neo-Nazi ideology.”
• The Chatham County Commission approves a resolution demanding greater financial and administrative accountability from Chatham Area Transit, including a forensic audit, Savannah Agenda reports. CAT is preparing a response to the resolution. Earlier this year, county finance staff examined CAT’s books, after which county officials didn’t publicly report any improper use of county funds.
• Early in-person voting for Chatham County voters begins Oct. 13 and ends Oct. 30, with weekend voting on Oct. 17-18 and Oct. 24-25. For more information on voting times and locations, click here. For voters elsewhere in Coastal Georgia, check your county website for voting information.
• The 20 biggest donors so far in the midterm elections reportedly have combined to shovel a staggering $1.2 billion into federal races this cycle. The lineup is dominated by the tech industry and ultrawealthy Republicans.
• The Trump administration is shuttering research projects key to the federal government’s fight against cyclospora, the foodborne parasite sickening thousands of Americans this summer.
• The U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran enters its seventh month, with U.S. ‌public approval of the war falling to its lowest level since the conflict’s early days and helping to hold President Donald Trump’s popularity at a record low, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

---

FROM THE CURRENT

---

---

Support independent, solutions-based investigative journalism without bias, fear or favor on issues affecting Savannah and Coastal Georgia.

---

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|*