Georgians are subsidizing an uneven data center boom

For years, Georgia leaders have boasted that a major reason the state became a hot spot for artificial intelligence data centers was a generous tax break passed in 2018.

However, a new state audit tells a different story — most of those data centers would have come here, anyway.

According to the report, only about 30% of Georgia’s data centers can be traced to the tax break. The other 70% were already likely to be built, drawn by cheap land, access to relatively inexpensive power and Georgia’s geographic location. Even so, taxpayers are losing nearly half a billion dollars a year to keep the unnecessary, ineffective incentive in place.

In other words, we’re overpaying, and it will cost us.

Data centers offer a complicated financial calculus. During the construction phase, those in the building trades are the big winners. However, once the massive edifices are built, employment opportunities evaporate.

Buildings dedicated to towers of computer servers and the transfer of electronic information require only a skeleton crew to maintain. Instead of people, what data centers do need — forever — are enormous amounts of electricity and water.

Because of their need for so much power, Georgia is now planning for thousands of megawatts of new demand largely to serve these facilities.

Instead of funding tax breaks to create jobs, everyday Georgians are instead footing the bill through higher power bills, dramatically increased water rates, louder neighborhoods, fewer trees and more strain on aging water systems — but the burden will not be shared evenly.

As those along the I-20 corridor can attest, many of the fastest-growing data center projects are being built in Black communities and in rural areas. Those who know Georgia’s history surrounding land-use decisions know several of these places have historically dealt with the effects of toxic landfills, warehouses and other heavy industries.

Residents often learn about new projects late in the process, when decisions are already made. The limited jobs promised rarely meet the pledges — but the impacts linger.

Democracy is not simply found in the act of voting. Voting is a mechanism through which we demand representative leadership make good decisions on our behalf — and invest our resources wisely. The reflexive tendency to spend billions for headlines and yield little for communities is not right.

It violates the intention of an effective democracy. We cannot justify bad deals under the vague, unproven promise of growth. If the state is giving away hundreds of millions of dollars in corporate welfare, the public should see and feel the benefits.

Technology has been an economic engine for Georgia — from financial tech founded in Columbus to startups powering metro Atlanta. As a legislator, I supported both, and as an author, I have explored the promise and challenges of AI in my books.

I know we don’t have to be anti-tech to be pro-accountability.

During my time under the Gold Dome, I supported tax incentives tied to real prosperity and voted against boondoggles that benefited the wealthy and powerful. Using its authority to protect Georgians, the General Assembly must tighten these tax breaks, require proof of real job creation, demand transparency about water and power use, and give communities a real voice in the process before projects are approved.

Right now, too many Georgians are paying the costs of the AI boom, but they’re not reaping much benefit.

We don’t need ChatGPT or Gemini to tell us that the math doesn’t add up. Old-fashioned calculators work just as well — and also consider the bipartisan rebuke to the state’s Public Service Commission last November.

Affordable choices for constituents make up the “real stuff” of democracy. As the legislative session heats up and politicians start jockeying for a return trip this coming election season, remember to tell those who speak for you to listen up.

Stacey Abrams is a bestselling author, entrepreneur and host of the podcast “Assembly Required.” She previously served as minority leader in the Georgia House of Representatives.