Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta, wants to freeze new data center projects across Georgia so officials can study how the facilities strain local communities, the environment and electricity bills. She says the pause would also give the state time to weigh the potential benefits some communities might see from hosting the massive, power-hungry buildings that help run artificial intelligence systems.
Georgia has become one of the top states in the country for new data center construction. That growth has turned into a real headache for voters caught between promised jobs and investment on one side and higher power demand and environmental concerns on the other. According to the report, neither candidate's plan has fully won over the public, pointing to a broader unease about how fast these facilities are going up and who ends up paying for the strain on the power grid and local resources.
The candidates offer competing visions for how to regulate an industry expanding faster than most people can track. Whoever wins the governor's race will decide whether Georgia keeps chasing data center investment at full speed or hits pause to figure out the cost first.