The data center fight in Marietta, Georgia
As of October 1, 2026, Marietta, Georgia has a data center moratorium in force (action taken 2026-07-09; documented end date 2026-12-31).
Status is derived, not stored — a pause with a documented end date flips to Expired on its own — and the source is right next to the claim.
Status today
6-month moratorium on new data center applications through Dec 31 2026. Approved despite two data centers being grandfathered (applications filed before freeze). City studying zoning regulations and potential environmental impacts.
SourceNews
read 2026-09-06
An expiry date is the earliest a pause could have ended — extensions are common, so confirm with the clerk before citing it.
The project on the table
1155 Powers Ferry Place data center (Prime Storage site) — Approved
Owner: Prime Group Holdings · Size: 18 MW · Acres: 11
Marietta City Council voted 5-2 on Aug 12, 2026 to approve rezoning for an 18 MW, 90,000 sq ft data center at Prime Storage's ~11-acre Powers Ferry Place property near I-75 and Delk Road — the city's second data center. Conditions include silencers on coolers/generators, an independent sound study, no connection to municipal water, and Prime Storage agreeing not to build data centers at its other Marietta sites. The application predated the six-month moratorium the council passed July 8.
Next: Approved — pivot from stopping it to a binding CBA: enforceable caps on noise, water and cost, plus a community benefit.
Latest in the record
- 2026-08-12 — After more than two hours of public comment at a capacity meeting, the council approved the rezoning 5-2, with conditions including silencers, an independent sound study, site monitoring, and no municipal water/electricity connection. · source
- 2026-08-12 — During the Marietta City Council meeting some protesters were escorted out by police, and residents raised concerns about noise and environmental pollution, especially to the nearby Rottenwood Creek. · source
- 2026-07-28 — Community organizers, including the group Marietta BLU, scheduled a town hall for July 28 near the proposed data center site. · source
- 2026-07-14 — CRE Daily reported residents pushing back on Prime Group's plan, noting the Marietta Planning Commission had endorsed the project about a week before the council delayed its decision and imposed a six-month moratorium through December 31. · source
- 2026-07-08 — The council passed a six-month moratorium on new data center applications (through Dec. 31, 2026); the 18 MW Powers Ferry Place application, filed before the freeze took effect, was not covered by it. · source
- 2026-07-08 — At the July 8 council meeting, Councilwoman Cheryl Richardson moved to table the Powers Ferry Place data center proposal, citing noise and asking for a sound and light study plus additional buffer space; the proposal was tabled until August 12. · source
Full dated timeline on the project tracker.
Source. Read 2026-08-14.
Recent news
7 stories tracked since 2026-07-08 across 6 outlets. 5× A community is pushing back on a nearby data center. 2× Local officials are moving to pause or block the project. Most recent: “Marietta, Georgia just approved a second data center in a 5-2 vote despite a six-month moratorium the council passed last month, because the 18-megawatt application was filed before the freeze took effect” (NewsBreak: Local News & Alerts, 2026-08-14).
- Marietta, Georgia just approved a second data center in a 5-2 vote despite a six-month moratorium the council passed last month, because the 18-megawatt application was filed before the freeze took effect
- Marietta data center project approved after hours of heated debate
- Marietta City Council approves data center off Delk Road
- Marietta approves controversial data center rezoning after hours of debate
- Marietta council votes 5-2 for new data center
- Marietta data center opponents plan rally before council meeting
- Proposed data center on Powers Ferry Place in Marietta faces backlash
Automated news aggregation, not human-verified — follow each link to the original outlet. Part of the story tracker, 7 headlines archived.
What to do next
- Questions to ask at the hearing — force specific answers onto the record.
- Estimate the impact — electricity, water, and rate pressure for any facility size in Georgia.
- Model CBA clauses — copy-paste language communities have actually won.
- Georgia briefing — rates, grid carbon, PUC contacts, and every fight in the state.
Nearby in Georgia
- Cobb County (2 mi) — Enactedexpires 2027-02-15
- Roswell (12 mi) — Expiredterm ran to 2026-09-20
- Georgia (HB 1012) (17 mi) — Rejectedterm not documented
- Atlanta (17 mi) — Enactedno end date — permanent
- Paulding County (18 mi) — Enactedexpires 2027-01-01
- Cherokee County (20 mi) — Enactedexpires 2027-02-14
- Douglas County (22 mi) — Enactedterm not documented
- DeKalb County (22 mi) — Enactedexpires 2027-03-30
All 46 tracked actions in Georgia are on the state page.
As of August 2026 (2m ago) · changes weekly — re-check before citing
Illustrative rather than exhaustive — dozens of localities churn weekly, and this tracks the ones we have read a source for. **Each row carries its own provenance.** Rows showing a verification date link to the ordinance, the enacting body's own page, or a datable report of the vote, and were read on that date. Rows marked *unverified* came from bulk compilation and have not been checked against a primary source — the locality, the year, and the status may all be off. Verify one of those with the town clerk before citing it as precedent. **Expiry is derived, not asserted.** A row with a documented end date flips to *Expired* on its own once that date passes. A time-limited moratorium whose start date was never documented keeps showing as enacted — that is a known gap, not a claim that it is still in force. Moratoriums are also routinely extended, so an expiry date is the earliest it could have ended, not proof that it did.
Part of the U.S. data center moratorium tracker — open data, CC BY 4.0.