During a Tuesday meeting, the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners voted to extend its moratorium on new data centers through September 30.
For the second time in less than two weeks, commissioners heard concerns about the potential impact of data centers. Residents urged them to extend the moratorium for a year and adopt regulations that would protect their neighborhoods.
"It's pretty clear how we feel," Conley resident Brandon Brown told commissioners.
Concerns about contaminated water supply, rising power bills, and property damage are being raised across rural and suburban communities. Many residents say local governments have failed to adequately protect communities as technology companies invest billions of dollars in new data center projects.
A recent "More Perfect Union" episode featuring U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's visit to Georgia highlighted residents from DeKalb County, Forest Park, Coweta County, Morgan County, and Newton County who say data center development has damaged property and left them feeling ignored by both developers and elected officials.
Coweta County residents living near the Meta Newton Data Center in Social Circle shared jars of their contaminated brown water.