Hard Labor Creek partnership with data center falls through
A proposed $7.5 million deal with an unnamed data center operator to provide water from the Hard Labor Creek Reservoir for a Social Circle data center has fallen through. The funding was intended to help expand the reservoir's treatment plant. This means the plant's earlier decision to scale back capacity will not be reversed.
Walton County Board of Commissioners Chair David Thompson reported to the Hard Labor Creek Reservoir Management Board that a proposed $7.5 million deal with an unnamed data center operator has failed. The data center company sought water from the reservoir for a facility in Social Circle, Georgia, with the investment intended to help fund the expansion of the reservoir's treatment plant.
The contractor for the $141.5 million treatment plant, Archer Western, had previously suggested it was an opportune time to reverse an earlier decision to reduce the plant's capacity from 16 to 12 million gallons per day. The proposed data center deal would have provided the necessary funds for this expansion.
With the deal now unsuccessful, the plan to increase the plant's capacity will not move forward. Oconee County partners involved in the reservoir project were reportedly surprised by the initial proposed deal.