Hot topic, cool reception. Residents denounce proposed OpenAI data center.

The proposal was made public less than 36 hours earlier in an announcement that caught area residents by surprise, especially neighbors of the proposed data center’s site and others in nearby Rincon, population 12,000.

Credit: Adam Van Brimmer

Credit: Adam Van Brimmer

The sudden unveiling of the plans stoked more outcry than curiosity. More than 100 data center protesters armed with hastily made signs gathered outside the meeting hall while inside OpenAI staffers, as well as officials with the local government and Georgia Power, fielded questions from civil — yet agitated — citizens.

Many criticized the lack of transparency around the proposal’s rollout, calling it secretive and manipulative. They said the closed-door process that proceeded the announcement makes them question the sincerity of OpenAI’s efforts to gather community input ahead of constructing a four-building, 4.4-million-square-foot facility that could open as early as 2028.

“They knew it wouldn’t advance if they had opened the doors to the community beforehand, so they waited until the end thinking people would just accept it,” said Tom Jordan, who, along with his wife, Sandy, lives on the same road as the proposed data center site. “I don’t think we can stop it, but we’re darn sure going to try and slow it down and get the best we can for our community.”

Credit: Adam Van Brimmer

Credit: Adam Van Brimmer

OpenAI struck a welcoming tone with the open house. They hired a local restaurant to cater the two-hour event, offered training sessions on how to use AI tools — dubbed OpenAI Academy — and hosted a job fair for those who showed interest in working at the data center. Close to two dozen staffers, decked out in matching black polo shirts bearing the OpenAI logo, manned information tables.

A spokesperson for the tech giant said public engagement is important given the widespread pushback against data centers elsewhere in Georgia and across the United States. The Georgia facility is the first OpenAI has planned to do without another technology partner, and the company said it wants to do things differently.

“It’s a great turnout and a great opportunity for us to get our vision across to the community,” OpenAI’s Aaron McLear said.

Credit: Adam Van Brimmer

Credit: Adam Van Brimmer

Still, attendees were skeptical. Those who voiced enthusiasm about the project were few beyond those connected to the project. A common response to inquires about who was excited about the data center was to “go talk to the people in the black OpenAI shirts.”

One OpenAI proponent, Nick Dowling, said he was there to apply for a job. An IT and AI consultant whose wife is an Effingham County native, Dowling encouraged skeptics to keep an open mind and weigh the benefits — such as new jobs, increased tax revenues and promised community investments.

A handful of attendees said they were neutral on the OpenAI data center and had come to learn more. None of them would provide their names for publication, however, fearing harassment on social media from the project’s opponents.

“It’s not worth it,” one said. “People are very upset.”

Residents directed much of their frustration during the open house at local government officials. They’ve couched OpenAI’s data center as a means to eliminate property taxes on homes, an initiative they launched just a week ago under the name Project Zero.

But they’d made no mention of a major economic development project driving the program, saying it would be achieved over a three-year period via “a series of legislative actions, local ordinances and voter-approved referendums.”

The Project Zero announcement was “subterfuge” meant to help officials sell the public on OpenAI, local resident Mike Melton said.

“I’m disappointed; it’s like they’re trying to buy us off,” he said. “They don’t talk about what it will mean for traffic, for what it will mean to the property values for those of us who live close to the site, what it will mean for our water and power bills.”

Credit: Adam Van Brimmer

Credit: Adam Van Brimmer

Several questioned OpenAI’s water usage projections and electricity plans. Data centers, which are essentially warehouses full of computer servers and other networking hardware, need a constant supply of water to cool their equipment along with an uninterrupted power supply.

OpenAI has promised to limit its water consumption by using a closed-loop system that recirculates water, much like a car radiator, for its equipment cooling needs. But few data centers currently operating rely solely on closed-loop systems, and skeptics at Thursday’s meeting questioned if the timing of the data center project is a coincidence — its estimated 2028 opening date corresponds with when a new water intake on the Savannah River is to begin operations.

That $500 million infrastructure project is meant to end Effingham’s reliance on the Floridan aquifer and Savannah’s municipal water system. The county buys 4 million gallons a day from its neighbor.

“From a financial standpoint, why use a closed-loop system instead of the new water intake on the Savannah River right down the road? If OpenAI changes their mind, the county is disempowered to hold them accountable,” Jeff Beauvais, with the conservation and environmental advocacy nonprofit One Hundred Miles, said.

As for electricity, OpenAI has reached an agreement to buy 3.2 gigawatts from Georgia Power to power the data center. That’s enough energy for more than 2 million homes and represents 20% of the utility’s current generation capacity of 14.8 gigawatts.

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN/AJC

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN/AJC

Georgia Power has plans to add 9 gigawatts of generating capacity statewide in the years ahead and is beefing up its grid in the Savannah area. The utility recently completed one of the U.S.’s largest high-voltage distribution facilities near Savannah and is constructing its 12th natural gas-fueled power turbine at Plant McIntosh, located 15 miles from the data center site.

But residents said those improvements should be targeted to strengthen the grid to handle population growth, not to enable development of more data centers.

Credit: Adam Van Brimmer

Credit: Adam Van Brimmer