As dozens of cities across the US are forced to scrap their plans to build power-hungry data centers, some civic leaders are no longer asking.
According to new reporting by Fortune, the state of Georgia’s for-profit utility company, Georgia Power, is looking to demolish and pave over some 30 homes — and 330 parcels of land — that currently block the route of a 1,000 mile transmission line.
When it goes live, the line will distribute nearly 10,000 megawatts of energy from a newly constructed power plant, “approximately 80 percent of which is expected to power data centers,” according to a fact sheet provided by the Georgia Public Service Commission (the rest will presumably be split between local businesses, homes, and other customers.)
Backed by the state, Georgia Power is now working on paying landowners to move, or else face the seizure of their property by eminent domain. As one can imagine, the predominantly rural homeowners affected aren’t exactly thrilled at the idea of clearing out to make space for more infrastructure to power AI.
