Georgia's Development of Regional Impact review of Project Camellia, OpenAI's proposed data-center campus in Effingham County, is now complete on the state's own tracking system: the Coastal Georgia Regional Development Commission issued its finding Sept. 1, 2026, with the process marked complete as of Sept. 6.
The filing itself, from applicant Octans GA LLC, puts the build-out at four buildings totaling 4.4 million square feet, a $20 billion investment, 400 full-time jobs, roughly $20 million a year in local tax revenue, a 3,210-megawatt peak electric load from Georgia Power, about 30,000 gallons a day of water and wastewater demand, and roughly 1,500 peak-hour vehicle trips in both the morning and afternoon.
Local outlets, including WTOC, reported around the same time that Effingham County commissioners postponed a Sept.
15 vote on the project's preliminary site plan at the developer's request amid organized opposition, and are now discussing a possible moratorium or conditional-use rule for future data centers. Effingham County's own meeting records were not reachable this run, so that postponement and the county's policy discussion remain sourced only to local reporting and are not stated as confirmed here.
Why it matters
Project Camellia's confirmed scale, a 3,210-megawatt draw on top of a $20 billion build-out, makes it one of the largest single developments proposed anywhere in Georgia, sited about half an hour from Savannah. The state review clearing its own process does not settle the project locally: if the reported site-plan postponement and moratorium discussion hold up, Effingham County's own terms for hosting the campus, not just the state and utility approvals, are still being actively negotiated.
What to watch
Confirm the reported Sept. 15 site-plan postponement and the county's data-center ordinance discussion directly from Effingham County's own meeting records once they are reachable, and watch for a rescheduled site-plan hearing and any vote on a moratorium or conditional-use rule.
Sources and documents7 sources
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