A $20 billion data center campus announced in July near Rincon, Georgia, is now facing its second lawsuit from Effingham County residents and environmental advocates.
OpenAI, best known for creating ChatGPT, is planning a massive campus that would include about 4.4 million square feet of data-center space 30 miles northwest of Savannah. The project, known as Project Camellia, is expected to require up to 3.2 gigawatts of electricity and to be built in phases beginning in 2028.
The project has received key approvals from the Effingham County Industrial Development Authority and the county Board of Commissioners, although the county has not yet given final approval to the site’s development plan. The Industrial Development Authority also approved a deal giving OpenAI a 50 percent property-tax break for 15 years, which the latest lawsuit estimates could be worth nearly $900 million.
Now, local residents and the environmental group One Hundred Miles, represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), are suing the Effingham County Industrial Development Authority. The lawsuit alleges that the authority failed to properly notify the public about its July meeting and did not give residents a meaningful opportunity to participate in decisions surrounding the project.
According to the lawsuit, the project was listed on the meeting agenda as “Project Gateway,” without identifying OpenAI or describing the proposed tax break. The plaintiffs also allege that the authority rescheduled the meeting without the seven days’ notice required under Georgia law, and also challenge the authority’s sale of publicly owned land to OpenAI without discussion at a public meeting.
“Georgia’s public process rules exist because communities should not learn about major decisions only after deals have been negotiated behind closed doors,” said SELC Staff Attorney Zachary Hennessee in a press release. “The Effingham County Industrial Development Authority must follow the law and give the public a real opportunity to be heard.”
The new lawsuit is the second legal challenge to the county’s handling of the data center project. The first, filed by three Effingham County residents earlier this month, targets the county Board of Commissioners over a change to its zoning rules.
The residents allege commissioners approved the change without the public hearings required by state law and county rules. Approved in August, the change allows data centers on industrial-zoned property, including the land where Project Camellia is planned.
Residents fear the environmental impacts of a site roughly 1,000 feet from schools and neighborhoods. Data centers use large amounts of water to cool electronic equipment and computer servers. OpenAI says this campus will use less water because it will use a closed-loop recycling system. However, closed-loop water recycling shifts more burden onto the electric grid.
Initial plans for the site show on-site emergency backup diesel generators, which, when used, would emit pollutants including nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. The county has since said that no diesel backup generators are planned for use after the project is complete.
In total, the site will require more than 3 gigawatts of power to run at full capacity. In comparison, the city of Atlanta uses about 1 gigawatt at any given time. The power supplied by Georgia Power will come as the utility undertakes a massive grid expansion to prepare for growing demand from data centers. In December 2025, the Georgia Public Service Commission approved nearly 10 gigawatts of new generation capacity, with 80 percent expected to serve data centers.
According to Inside Climate News reporting, more than half of that expansion will come from natural gas, with the proposed plants capable of producing more than 20 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent emissions annually, the equivalent of more than 4 million gas-powered cars on the road.
“This massive project will impact Effingham County’s neighborhoods, schools, water use and power bills for years to come,” said Megan Desrosiers, president and CEO of One Hundred Miles, a nonprofit focused on protecting Georgia’s coast and a plaintiff in the lawsuit. “Residents deserve to know the facts and have the ability to weigh in with a meaningful voice before decisions are finalized.”
OpenAI said in a July 22 article that electricity rates will not increase for Georgia Power customers because the company will pay the infrastructure and electric-service costs needed to power the campus. But consumer and environmental advocates have challenged whether the utility’s rules prevent residential customers from absorbing other costs associated with serving data centers.
During a May proceeding, an attorney for the SELC said Georgia Public Service Commission staff found that large industrial customers could increase average fuel costs for other customers by 5 percent to 11 percent per month. The PSC later opened an investigation into how those fuel costs are allocated between large industrial customers and residential and small-business ratepayers.
OpenAI’s article said they will provide 80 million in community benefits over the project’s lifespan despite receiving a 900 million dollar tax break.
County officials have said the data center could increase job growth and tax revenue in the region. “This project has the potential to change the financial future of Effingham County in ways that will benefit our citizens for generations,” said Effingham County Manager Tim Callanan. The county and OpenAI estimate the project will create 400 long-term, high-quality jobs. Data centers typically create relatively few long-term jobs compared with their size and investment, according to industry experts.
Both cases are pending in state Superior Court. The plaintiffs hope the lawsuits will shed light on how the project was negotiated and lead to more public input in the process.
“As Effingham residents, we have been kept in the dark,” said Manjusha Sheobaran, who lives less than 1,500 feet from the site. “When a controversial development threatens our quality of life, natural resources, or tax base, the matter goes beyond county officials’ desires.”
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Ryan Krugman is a recent graduate of Columbia University’s Climate School focusing on climate change reporting and communications. He also holds a Bachelor’s degree from St. Lawrence University where he studied Environmental Science and Sociology. As a former Inside Climate News fellow, he is now reporting on climate and environmental issues in New England and Georgia.
