Warnock Calls For Georgia Data Center Moratorium

✓What's documented Based on Sen. Warnock's on-record remarks to reporters, captured on video, and confirmation from his and Sen. Ossoff's offices that federal utility regulators have not responded to their requests.

U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock called for a moratorium on new data center construction in Georgia, tying his proposal directly to the secrecy around a planned $20 billion OpenAI facility in Effingham County. Any exception would require a builder to guarantee no increase in residents' water or electric bills, along with limits on pollution and a ban on nondisclosure agreements. He and Sen. Ossoff say they've asked federal officials for consumer protections against rising power bills tied to data centers and gotten no response.

• Moratorium proposal would require builders seeking an exception to guarantee no water or electric bill increases for residents.
• Warnock says he and Sen. Jon Ossoff have pressed federal officials on data center water and power bill impacts with no response.
• Only a handful of Effingham County officials, bound by nondisclosure agreements, knew of the OpenAI negotiations before the July 22 announcement.
• Georgia already has roughly 40 municipalities with data center moratoriums in place.