Data centers are essential to modern life. They support cloud services, streaming, payments, research, public systems and artificial intelligence. The question is not whether society needs them. The question is where very large facilities belong, who carries their infrastructure risks and what kind of development best serves a small rural community.

A rural town can use cloud computing, teach AI, build software, operate digital businesses and participate in global markets without locating hyperscale compute campuses inside its community. Separating those two ideas is the beginning of a more responsible development conversation.

Key points

  • U.S. data centers used about 4.4% of national electricity in 2023; federal researchers project a possible 6.7%–12% share by 2028.
  • Georgia regulators now use special large-load rules because these projects create unusual infrastructure, forecasting and ratepayer risks.
  • Water impacts vary greatly by cooling system and energy source, so project-specific disclosure is essential.
  • The Ellijay Digital Capital campaign opposes hyperscale or campus-scale data-center development that depends on small-town land and utility systems.

The scale has changed

The U.S. Department of Energy reported that data centers consumed approximately 176 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2023—about 4.4% of total U.S. electricity use. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory projects that the share could reach approximately 6.7% to 12% by 2028, depending on technology shipments, operating practices and cooling demand.

Georgia is experiencing the issue directly. In April 2026, Georgia Power reported 32 committed large-load customers representing approximately 15,600 megawatts of future service, with 21 projects under construction. Large-load customers are not identical to data centers, but state utility planning documents identify data-center growth as a major driver.

Why small-town scale matters

A major data center is not simply another office or technology employer. It can require new substations, transmission, generation, water systems, backup generation, road improvements and emergency-response planning. The construction investment may be large while the permanent on-site workforce is comparatively specialized and limited.

In a metropolitan or purpose-built industrial location, infrastructure and land-use impacts can be distributed across a larger system. In a small rural town, one project can become a dominant consumer of capacity and a defining land-use decision. That concentration deserves a higher standard of proof, transparency and public participation.

Power and public cost cannot be assumptions

The Georgia Public Service Commission approved new large-load rules in January 2025 that permit longer contracts, minimum billing, upfront infrastructure payments and financial guarantees. The stated purpose is to reduce the risk that existing customers pay for infrastructure built for a large user that later reduces demand or leaves.

Those protections are important, but they also demonstrate why a data-center proposal is not an ordinary economic-development prospect. Local officials should ask how electricity infrastructure will be funded, who remains responsible if forecasts change, what backup generation will operate on site and whether small businesses and residents face indirect land or service costs.

Water impacts must be disclosed, not generalized

Data-center water use varies by cooling design, climate, workload and the source of electricity. Some facilities can minimize direct water use; others rely on evaporative cooling. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory notes that water and energy efficiency can involve tradeoffs, which means a single industry average is not enough for local decision-making.

Any rural proposal should disclose expected daily and peak water demand, wastewater effects, drought operations, cooling technology, water-source alternatives and indirect water associated with power generation. A community should not be asked to approve first and understand the water balance later.

A rural data-center decision screen

Before considering a large compute facility, a rural community should require an independent, public analysis of at least these questions.

  • Scale — What is the full campus buildout, not only the first building?
  • Power — What generation, transmission and substation capacity will be added, and who pays?
  • Water — What are direct and indirect demands during normal, peak and drought conditions?
  • Land — What acreage, buffers, viewsheds, noise and adjacent uses are affected?
  • Employment — How many temporary and permanent jobs, at what occupations and wages?
  • Public finance — Which tax exemptions, abatements, bonds or infrastructure commitments apply?
  • Resilience — What are the emergency, backup-power, fire, cybersecurity and grid-contingency plans?
  • Exit — What financial assurance covers decommissioning, stranded infrastructure or a canceled buildout?

The campaign position for Ellijay

The Ellijay Digital Capital campaign says no to hyperscale and campus-scale data-center development within the small-town environment or dependent on its limited utility systems. This position does not oppose ordinary business servers, secure local systems, research computing, small edge facilities or resilient community technology infrastructure.

It favors investments that create direct local capability: broadband, skills, small-business modernization, software and media production, cybersecurity, AI learning, founder support, digital tourism, product development and locally owned intellectual property. These investments use technology as a multiplier for the community instead of making the community a host for industrial compute.

Pro-technology, pro-place

Rural communities should not be forced into a false choice between rejecting the future and accepting every project labeled high-tech. The more confident position is to define the future locally, examine evidence and select development that matches the community's long-term capacity and values.

Ellijay can become known for what it builds with digital technology while protecting the resources that make it Ellijay. That is not resistance to innovation. It is innovation with judgment.