Burkhalter Data Center, Statesboro, Georgia

Statesboro's mayor broke a 2 to 2 tie on Aug. 18, 2026 to rezone 26.49 acres at 6539 Burkhalter Road from high-density residential to office and business, so developers can keep pursuing a data center there, in Bulloch County, Georgia. The owners, 4AM Development LLC partners Bobby Bagwell of Augusta and Charles C. Way of Savannah, mainly residential developers until now, propose a two-story data center with roughly 230,000 square feet of floor space. Council members Ginny Hendley and Tangie Reese Johnson voted for the change, Sharri Barr and John Riggs voted against, and Mayor Jonathan McCollar cast the deciding vote. "I've been in much prayer regarding this data center," said Johnson, who works at Georgia Southern University. "I'm not against data centers."

About 100 people protested outside City Hall before the vote, and opponents filled the council chamber and the second floor corridor to the 133-person fire code limit. At the Planning Commission on Aug. 4, which recommended the change 5 to 1, Lori Braselton, who bought a home in the area in May, said: "I just see my investment and my retirement going down the tubes." Way answered: "The idea that there's going to be noise heard from this thing a half a mile or a mile away is simply not true." Before the council, Ogeechee Riverkeeper urged a denial, and neighbors raised home values, noise, water, electrical demand, wetlands and traffic.

The concept plan puts the power requirement at 40 to 90 megawatts, and the developers have applied to Georgia Power for 99 megawatts from the transmission lines beside the property. A water plan by Thomas & Hutton projects a closed-loop cooling system needing 30 to 100 gallons a day of makeup water, and a total average demand of 330 to 400 gallons a day. A fiscal study obtained through the Development Authority of Bulloch County, at the developers' request and expense, projects $1.2 billion of investment over 10 years and 12 full-time jobs. "Well honestly, I don't know if it's realistic or not," said Benjy Thompson, the authority's CEO. "I've never worked a data center project." The developers have no operator yet, and Way said they are "zoning it speculatively, but there is zero chance that they're going to build this speculatively."

The city's data center ordinance, passed 3 to 1 on June 2, still requires a special use permit with a further hearing and council approval, and limits any data center to a 50 acre site. On Sept. 1 City Manager Charles Penny said no application had been received and the council should not decide it without knowing the end user: "I don't believe that this council will sign a blank check." Bulloch County's own moratorium, extended to Dec. 31, covers only unincorporated land, and on Sept. 1 county commissioners voted 4 to 3 against turning it into a permanent ban.