On a warm November evening, the number of attendees at a local government meeting in Georgia’s Coweta County swelled beyond the strip-lit room’s capacity. The majority were there to voice opposition to a planned data centre.
News of the proposed 4.3mn sq ft development — Project Sail — emerged in January. The developers say it could cost about $17bn to build and provide an economic boost to the community of about 150,000 people.
The facility will be built by Prologis, one of the world's biggest warehouse owners, and is set to be the latest addition to projects that have made Georgia one of the fastest-growing data centre hotspots in the US.