Effingham County hosts data center forum

SPRINGFIELD, Ga. (WTOC) - Dozens of Effingham County residents gathered Monday night seeking answers about a proposed multi-billion-dollar data center campus, but several left feeling the discussion was overshadowed by partisan politics.

The community town hall, hosted at the Mars Theatre by One Hundred Miles and the Georgia Conservation Voters Education Fund, was billed as an educational forum on Project Camellia—a planned 1,400-acre OpenAI data center facility at the Savannah Gateway Industrial Hub.

Organizers and environmental speakers outlined concerns regarding power grid reliability, utility rates, and strain on local water resources. However, calls from the stage urging attendees to vote on Election Day sparked frustration among residents looking strictly for localized information.

“It was political,” Effingham County resident Jeanne Seaver said. “I think it was a bunch of environmentalists, and I can respect that. I mean, there are a lot of environmental issues that are concerns. But I think it was just a campaign stop.”

Seaver, whose property sits adjacent to the proposed site, emphasized that her objections center entirely on zoning and proximity rather than the technology itself.

“I’m not against data centers,” Seaver said. “There’s a lot of people in the community that are not against data centers. We are against data centers being built right in the middle of our neighborhoods and schools.”

Other attendees echoed concerns that political rhetoric obscured practical questions regarding artificial intelligence, heat mitigation, environmental buffers, and residential property values.

“It’s got to stop being a political issue,” attendee David Park said. “This is something that does not affect Republicans or Democrats—it affects everybody.”

The Effingham County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to hold a workshop Tuesday to discuss development guidelines for the project.