Georgia audited its own data center tax breaks and found that the state gave up $474 million in sale
News Clip2:59Ronan Farrow·GA·8/27/2026
An audit in Georgia revealed the state lost $474 million in sales taxes due to data center tax breaks in one year, recouping only $41 million, with 70% of the construction estimated to have occurred regardless. This is part of a national trend where states offer costly incentives. Additionally, wholesale power prices near data center clusters, such as around Washington D.C., have surged by up to 267% since 2020, leading to increased consumer bills.
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Gov: Georgia, PJM
Georgia audited its own data center tax breaks and found that the state gave up $474 million in sales taxes in one year—and got back just $41 million from the industry. At least 38 states have deals like this. (It's not clear whether all that money the state waived was necessary to attract the construction: in Georgia's case, by the state's own estimate, 70% of the data center construction would have happened anyway.)
And it's not just states paying: Bloomberg analyzed seven regional power grids across the country last year and found that wholesale prices near data centers have risen as much as 267% since 2020. Around Washington DC, near the world's largest cluster of data centers, power bills rose about $20 a month last summer.
The AI boom is lifting the economy, but there's mounting evidence that the people benefiting least are carrying significant costs through tax breaks, power bills, and deals they never voted on.
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