Project Camellia (OpenAI Effingham County Campus)
Announced · Owner: OpenAI1 · Congressional district 1 · Owner type: Leased to a hyperscaler · Ai cloud (neocloud) tenant
Jobs
This project is in GA-1. Your representative is Earl L. "Buddy" Carter.
Earl L. "Buddy" Carter (R), U.S. Representative GA-1 · Leaves this office Jan 2027 · 202-225-5831 · website
How many local workers and apprentices will this project employ? Who will pay for its grid and water upgrades? Where can residents see those commitments in writing? All officials for this project
What does this mean for your community?
Electric bills
- What we know
- No project-specific public estimate identified.
- What remains unknown
- The effect of this project on household bills.
- Who can answer
- Your state utility commission and your utility's rate cases.
Water
- What we know
- No project-specific public estimate identified.
- What remains unknown
- How much water this project will use and where it comes from.
- Who can answer
- Your local water utility and county commission.
Housing
- What we know
- No project-specific public estimate identified.
- What remains unknown
- Effects on local land prices, rents and housing.
- Who can answer
- Local land records and planning commission minutes.
Taxes and incentives
- What we know
- No project-specific public estimate identified.
- What remains unknown
- The full public cost and the net tax revenue.
- Who can answer
- Your state economic development agency and county commission.
No sourced construction figure yet.
Verified facts
- Planned investment: $20 billion planned2
- Community benefit: $2 million to start the Atlas Park trail system13
- Planned investment: $20 billion estimated value at build-out (developer filing to the state)14
- Local tax revenue: $20 million a year in local taxes (developer estimate filed with the state)14
Find jobs here
We link out to real listings and do not host job posts. Links carry no tracking. Checked Nov 4, 2026.
Companies tied to this site
- OpenAI: data center jobs tenant
Job boards, union halls and apprenticeships
Job boards
Union halls and apprenticeships
Who represents this project?
A question to ask them: How many local workers and apprentices will this project employ? Who will pay for its grid and water upgrades? Where can residents see those commitments in writing?
Your current officials
- Brian Kemp (R), Governor · Leaves this office Jan 2027
- Jon Ossoff (D), U.S. Senator · 202-224-3521 · contact form
- Raphael G. Warnock (D), U.S. Senator · 202-224-3643 · contact form
- Earl L. "Buddy" Carter (R), U.S. Representative GA-1 · Leaves this office Jan 2027 · 202-225-5831 · website
Officials taking office in January 2027
- Keisha Lance Bottoms (D), Governor-elect
- James Kingston (R), U.S. Representative-elect GA-1
A question you could ask them: who will pay for the power lines and water service this site needs?
Their statements and votes · All sites in Effingham County · Something wrong? Fix it
What they have said
Let us take a pause, assess fully, assess comprehensively, assess the impact that these data centers are having on our environment, on our utility bills, what it means to have them in communities,9
If I am elected governor, I will ask for a pause in construction on data centers throughout the state to allow us to understand exactly where we are.10
We don't need to take another step forward in this state until we fully understand what the impact will be on consumers and what the impact will be on people across Georgia,11
Nearby sites
- Burkhalter Road Data Center (4AM Development), Bulloch County, GA · 30 miles · Announced
- Cogent Fairfax Data Center, Allendale County, SC · 47 miles · Operating
- Metter Airport Data Center Campus, Candler County, GA · 48 miles · Announced
- Walterboro Data Center, Colleton County, SC · 54 miles · Announced
- CleanSpark Twin City Bitcoin Mining Facility, Emanuel County, GA · 57 miles · Operating
Sources
- 1.Sue Data Centers, Project Camellia (OpenAI Effingham County Campus) listing, accessed Nov 5, 2026. ↩
- 2.Effingham County Industrial Development Authority, Effingham County Leaders Announce Landmark OpenAI Data Center Investment, Jul 22, 2026. ↩
- 3.Associated Press race call, 2026 Governor GA result. ↩
- 4.Associated Press race call, 2026 U.S. Senate GA result. ↩
- 5.Ossoff letter to FERC (PDF), Ossoff letter to FERC (PDF) statement. ↩
- 6.warnock.senate.gov release, warnock.senate.gov release statement. ↩
- 7.Associated Press race call, 2026 U.S. House GA-1 result. ↩
- 8.House Clerk, Roll Call 312, House Clerk, Roll Call 312 vote record. ↩
- 9.Cobb County press conference, Georgia Recorder, Cobb County press conference, Georgia Recorder statement, 2026-09. ↩
- 10.Interview, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Interview, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer statement. ↩
- 11.WRDW News 12, WRDW News 12 statement, Sep 14, 2026. ↩
- 12.Kingston campaign site, Kingston campaign site statement. ↩
- 13.Effingham County Industrial Development Authority, OpenAI Commits $2 Million to Kickstart Trail System at Effingham County's Atlas Park, Oct 22, 2026. ↩
- 14.Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DRI filing), DRI #4801 Project Camellia, Additional DRI Information Form, accessed Nov 5, 2026. ↩
Questions
How many jobs does a data center create?
It varies a lot by site and construction crews are much larger than the permanent staff that runs a site. We only show figures linked to a primary public source. A blank means we have not linked a source yet, not zero. Source
What trades build data centers?
Electricians do the largest share of the work, followed by pipefitters and HVAC mechanics for cooling, ironworkers, equipment operators, laborers and low voltage and controls technicians. Running sites hire data center technicians, facilities staff and security. Source
How do I find a data center job near me?
Use the Find jobs here links on this page. They go straight to each company's own careers site, the local union hall and the U.S. Department of Labor apprenticeship finder. We link out and do not host listings. Source
Every figure links to a public source. A blank means we have not linked a source yet, not zero. Sources and methods