Will the New OpenAI Data Center Raise Georgia Power Bills?

OpenAI’s announcement that it is building a massive data center campus near Savannah has put a familiar question back in the spotlight: do data centers pay their own way, or does their growth end up on everyone else’s electric bill?

The project, called Project Camellia, would sit on 1,400 acres in Effingham County and draw up to 3.2 gigawatts (GW) of power from Georgia Power, delivered in phases between 2028 and 2032. That means it would require as much power as over half the homes currently in Georgia, in less time than it takes to bring one new gas-fired power plant online.

OpenAI says it’s investing $20 billion in the site and has a contract with Georgia Power pending before the Public Service Commission (PSC) staff for review and approval or referral to the full PSC. The company and the utility are both quick to say that existing customers won’t foot the bill for this one.

So, is that true? Unfortunately, the honest answer is: we don’t know, and the odds aren’t great. Here’s what we do and don’t know, and why it matters.

How Data Centers Impact Your Bill

Utilities and state regulators typically divide the cost of power plants between three customer classes: industrial, commercial, and residential. Data centers are billed as industrial or commercial customers. You and I are billed as residential customers.