RINCON, Ga. — Effingham County residents will have two opportunities next week to learn more about Project Camellia and ask questions about the proposed $20 billion data center campus.
Project Camellia, announced July 22 by OpenAI, calls for a data center campus on approximately 1,400 acres at the Savannah Gateway Industrial Hub in Rincon. The project is expected to be developed in phases beginning in 2028 and could use up to 3.2 gigawatts of electricity.
The proposal has generated questions about water, power, roads and other infrastructure, as well as environmental impacts, economic development, transparency and the project’s effect on the community.
The Effingham County Board of Commissioners will hold a three-hour work session on the project Saturday, Aug. 29, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the county’s administrative complex, 804 S. Laurel St., Springfield.
The work session will include a look at the history of the site and Project Camellia, decisions made to address community concerns and the benefits county officials say the project could bring to Effingham County. Residents also will have an opportunity to provide public input.
The meeting will be livestreamed, and residents will be able to submit questions in advance through the county’s online portal. A detailed agenda will be posted later.
Information sessions
The Saturday meeting follows two information sessions Wednesday, Aug. 26, hosted by the Effingham County Chamber of Commerce at the Herald Center, 1204 N. Columbia Ave., Rincon.
The Chamber sessions will feature Georgia Tech faculty and economic development experts, along with local officials, for discussions about large-scale data centers and issues surrounding their development.
Commissioner Roger Burdette, whose district includes the proposed data center site, discussed the upcoming sessions during the commission’s Aug. 18 meeting.
“So we hopefully will get just a ton of information, and not just from us, and not just from developers, but somebody that’s outside of the project,” Burdette said. “What I was truly looking for was unbiased opinion, and I think I found that through Dr. Saeed and his colleagues.”
Burdette was referring to Ahmed Saeed of Georgia Tech’s School of Computer Science. Saeed is one of several Georgia Tech representatives scheduled to participate in the Chamber’s sessions.
“There’ll be at least three, maybe four, on the panel from Georgia Tech,” Burdette said. “So we’ll be able to ask some questions. Submit your questions early.”
Burdette also is scheduled to participate in the daytime Chamber session.
“I’ll be on that panel along with several others, but mainly Georgia Tech,” he said. “So I’m excited about that. A lot of work is going to go into that, and between that and that Saturday that we’re going to have our informational session, we put out just a ton of information.”
The Business & Community Leaders session will be held from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Aug. 26, with doors opening at 9:30 a.m. The evening Community Information Session will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m., with doors opening at 6 p.m.
Other confirmed participants include Ameet Pinto of Georgia Tech’s School of Civil & Environmental Engineering; Laura O. Taylor of the School of Economics, who will participate virtually; and Betsy McGriff of the Georgia Tech Center for Economic Development Research.
Effingham County Industrial Development Authority CEO Brandt Herndon also will participate in the daytime session.
Attendance is free, but registration is required for the Chamber sessions. Attendees can submit questions in advance during registration for consideration during the moderated discussion.
Registration is available at effinghamcounty.com/events.
