Will the New OpenAI Data Center Raise Georgia Power Bills?

OpenAI plans a massive data center campus, called Project Camellia, on 1,400 acres in Effingham County, Georgia, drawing up to 3.2 gigawatts of power from Georgia Power in phases between 2028 and 2032. That's roughly as much electricity as more than half of Georgia's households use. OpenAI is putting $20 billion into the site, and it has a power contract with Georgia Power awaiting review by state regulators. Both companies say existing customers won't end up paying for it, but that promise is hard to verify.

The concern for homeowners is how utilities split the cost of new power plants between residential customers and big industrial users like data centers. Adding a load this large could lower the residential share of costs on paper, but the total cost pool is growing too, partly because new power plants now cost roughly twice as much to build as older ones. If the data center scales back, delays, or leaves early, and doesn't cover as much of the cost as expected, regular customers could be stuck paying more for expensive new infrastructure. Georgia Power has made similar promises before, in a 2023 case, to lower typical bills using data center revenue, but has reportedly never shown proof it delivered on that commitment.

State regulators adopted rules last year requiring large customers like this to sign custom contracts and undergo review, but critics say the current 30-day review window and contract secrecy make it hard to confirm whether residential customers are actually protected. The Georgia Public Service Commission staff have until August 26 to decide whether to send this contract to the full commission for deeper review.