Columbia County commissioners approved the Pumpkin Technology Campus, a 420 acre site along Appling-Harlem Road near Highway 221 planned for four data center buildings, two warehouses, and a substation, by a 4-1 vote on February 3-4, 2026 despite strong pushback from the nearby Greenpoint neighborhood. Google, through subsidiary Kinetic Infrastructure Solutions LLC, has since been identified as the end user, as part of a combined incentive package with the neighboring White Oak Technology Park worth at least 17 billion dollars that Columbia County's Development Authority approved on August 26, 2026. Approval conditions increased required buffers from 250 to 500 feet, raised screening berms from 6 to 12 feet, and barred new residential construction on the east side of Highway 221.
Data centers in Columbia County
We track 3 projects inside Columbia County and 1 more within 25 miles of it. For a distance-specific answer, check your own address.
In Columbia County
Columbia County commissioners unanimously approved the White Oak Technology Park data center project near Appling on February 3-4, 2026, with a condition lowering the allowed noise limit at the property line from 70 to 65 decibels. Google subsidiary Kinetic Infrastructure Solutions LLC has now been confirmed as the buyer and end user, paying 475 million dollars for the site from original applicant Trammell Crow Company, and Columbia County's Development Authority approved a combined incentive package worth at least 17 billion dollars on August 26, 2026 covering both White Oak and the nearby Pumpkin Technology Campus, with the county to receive 40 million dollars a year for seven years. Full build out could take up to ten years with a target of 2028 for initial operation.
A roughly 944 acre data center proposal called Byrd Farms Technology Campus, east of Louisville Road in Columbia County, was denied 4-1 by county commissioners on February 3-4, 2026. Commission chairman Doug Duncan said the board could not identify a confirmed end user for the project, which was the largest and most heavily opposed of three data center proposals decided that night. As of the most recent reporting there is no indication the applicant has resubmitted or appealed.
Within 25 miles of Columbia County
Power bills in Columbia County
Most of the county is served by Georgia Power, with parts on Jefferson Energy Cooperative.
Base rate freeze through 2028 (docket 44280) holds base rates flat from July 2025. Fuel and storm riders are separate and can still move. Real-time pricing revenue credit and cost allocation review (docket 57171) is pending before the commission without a published residential figure yet. 2026 fuel and storm cost settlement (docket 44280, 56765) takes about $4.04 a month off a typical bill from June 2026.
Georgia Power and the Georgia PSC Public Interest Advocacy Staff reached a stipulated agreement extending the alternate rate plan first approved in the 2022 rate case, keeping Georgia Power base electricity rates flat through at least 2028. The Georgia Public Service Commission approved the stipulation by vote on July 1, 2025, with a formal order issued July 31, 2025. The freeze applies only to base rates and does not limit separate fuel cost recovery or storm cost recovery charges, both of which can still change a residential bill during the freeze period. Georgia Power has said growth in large load customers such as data centers helped make the freeze possible by spreading fixed costs across a larger customer base.
Every Georgia rate case in dollars a month, with hearing dates: willmybillgoup.com, our rate case tracker.
Alerts for Columbia County
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