Georgia lawmakers fail to pass data center bills, leaving tax breaks and power costs unchanged

Georgia lawmakers have concluded their legislative session without passing any significant new regulations concerning data centers, meaning current tax breaks and utility policies remain in effect. This decision leaves counties throughout the state to grapple with ongoing data center development proposals without new statewide guidance. The legislative debate focused on several key bills. Senate Bill 34 aimed to prevent utilities from passing data center-related power infrastructure costs onto residential customers, proposing that such charges be recovered primarily from the data centers themselves. Despite advancing through the Legislature, SB 34 did not pass before sine die. House Bill 1063, which sought to require new utility agreements with large-load customers, including data centers, to include terms preventing other customers from absorbing incremental service and construction costs, passed the House but stalled in the Senate. Another significant proposal, House Bill 1059, called for a moratorium on new data center construction to allow the state to study the broader impacts on utilities, land use, and infrastructure. However, this bill also failed to advance. Additionally, efforts to eliminate or sunset state tax credits, including the sales tax exemption for new data centers (Senate Bill 476 and other proposals), were unsuccessful. Critics of the uncontrolled data center expansion expressed disappointment, with Monroe County resident Betty Eskew stating that the failure of these bills creates a "free for all," placing immense pressure on county commissioners to protect their constituents. With no new statewide restrictions, county commissions and planning boards will continue to serve as the primary decision-makers for communities evaluating data center projects.