The calm early morning hours around Mt. Hamner were suddenly disturbed when the precocious peak erupted in a violent array of smoke, fire, and heat. Residents, awakened by the disturbance, evacuated quickly. Many were confused and perplexed as the crag gave no warning of eruption. USGS surveyors, also caught by surprise, scrambled to analyze data collected during the surprise ventilation. One resident told USGS surveyors that no one should have been surprised since the fickle lady had been unusually quiet for months. While USGS scientists investigated the occurrence, residents voiced some speculation on the cause of the disturbance.
If there is one thing that really chaps my lips, gets my goat, and ruffles my dander, it is the stupidity, incompetence, greed, and short-sightedness of local and state governments. While some of the following applies to many locales, none can compete with the State of Georgia, my former state home. The state seems to be heading toward becoming the “data center hub of the South”. It’s bad enough that my former hometown gained notoriety as “the Hollywood of the South”, wreaking havoc on locals who were pushed aside for Hollyweird film production. Inconvenience after inconvenience was suffered as streets were closed, roads were jammed, and the small downtown area was inaccessible to most residents. However, the worst has been the data centers popping up in the county and the adjacent areas.
For years now, no one has been able to purchase a “regular” toilet. Every toilet that is now made for purchase to install in homes is a “water saver toilets”. These toilets hold a water capacity of approximately 1 ½ gallons compared to the 3 gallons of previous toilets. Geniuses, who implemented this “code” for commercial and private buildings, claimed this change was to “save” water and protect the resources in the community. It made sense, so no one really issued even a hiccup on the change.
Being that the standard slope for a residence sewer pipe to the septic tank or sewer is 1/8 to ¼ inch per foot, one would think it would change when the water saver toilet came into “service”. It didn’t. So, when older homes had to replace their conventional toilet with a water saver toilet, it took more flushes to get the contents to the septic tank or sewer. How many flushes? In our case, it took four flushes to get the contents through the pipe to the septic tank. That’s six gallons of water – 2 times as much as before. The only way we found out it took that much was when we thought there was a problem with the septic tank and had the plumber come out to check. How is this “water saver” toilet saving water? It isn’t. In the hilarious words of one of the plumbers, “this was thought up by someone who doesn’t know crap about crap.” Couldn’t have said it better myself.
The only way to get the contents through the pipe into the septic tank or sewer was an “air-assisted” toilet. That sounds great until you get the price for the device and installation – $1,500. If you have more than one bathroom, the cost adds up. And, depending on how far the pipe runs from the toilet to the septic tank, it could be more flushes. Yes, the washing machine and sinks use the same pipe, but the washing machine doesn’t run after every bathroom trip, and the sink doesn’t provide enough force to help the contents flow to the septic tank.
All this was sold as saving water to protect the resources. Yet, the same government that implemented this change allows data centers to build in the area that will consume millions of gallons per year. The Facebook data center in the area utilizes 20 million gallons per year from the same water source the county draws its water. If that wasn’t enough, the Amazon data center currently being built will consume about the same or more. There are not enough water-saving toilets in that county to justify allowing Facebook and Amazon data centers to use that much water, especially when, during droughts, residents are told to refrain from washing cars at home and watering their lawn to “conserve” water. So far, the Facebook data center has not been asked to “conserve”.
To add insult to injury, the county is allowing the electric car company Rivian to build a plant near the Facebook data center. Wonder how much water it will use? And, in the next county over, two data centers are being built. Those will need massive amounts of water as well, not to mention electricity.
Speaking of electricity, people have been told to lower their thermostats in the winter to 68 degrees and raise it in the summer to 78 degrees to reduce strain and demand on the power grid. Remember, this “request” occurred during the late 70s with the Carter administration during the “oil crisis”. Now, power companies are putting in “smart meters” and pushing residents to use thermostats they can control to “lessen demand” during peak hours. Yet, data centers can always use unlimited amounts of power without so much as a peep from the stupid, incompetent, greedy individuals occupying elected offices.
The next county over, welcoming two data centers, has solved the problem of peak demand for residents – batteries. Yes, batteries are being installed to service 16,000 homes during peak hours while the data centers are allowed to suck up all the juice. Of course, Amazon has indicated its data center will have its own power source so as not to strain the local grid. Can anyone guess what that might be? If you guessed a small modular nuclear reactor, you would be correct, as Amazon, Microsoft, and Facebook have indicated that is the plan to power these huge data centers. Unfortunately, residents are not aware of this. Even when trying to inform residents about it, one would think I had 10 heads and not a brain in one of them.
The real “gag me with a spoon” moment came when a commercial praising Georgia data centers appeared on the streaming service. It’s propaganda all the way. It claims electricity rates are not going up because of data centers but something else. The claim is the data centers in Georgia are providing “new” sources of electricity for residents and “paying for the electricity expansion.” When that is stated in the commercial, a suspicious flash of solar panels appears. No mention of the battery system being set up just one county over to service 16,000 residences during peak hours for the power-hungry data centers. You can guess that if they are paying for the electric grid expansion and power production expansion, they will get first dibs while residents get hind teat. It’s already evident with battery installation for residents.
You can check out all the propaganda for yourself here. It’s interesting in the Data Center Publication 2025 that Plant Vogtle is mentioned. It’s sitting on a leaning foundation and has a sinking reactor, which has been known since the construction phase but was allowed to continue to completion and operation anyway. My former hometown has the 8th highest electricity rates in the State of Georgia. So, pardon me if this “lower electricity rate” rhetoric causes me to need the “bucket”.
Yes, Georgia, particularly the Atlanta area, has become a hotbed for data center construction. These data centers can qualify for zero sales tax and use tax exemption. The company has to meet a minimum of $25 million investment in small communities and $250 million in larger ones – based on population. And, the company has to provide a minimum job creation of 5 – 25 new jobs. These requirements have to be met within seven years. Whoop-ti-do.
Over the last few decades, Atlanta has had numerous issues with its water and sewerage system. At one point, sinkholes were prevalent everywhere, swallowing up cars, buses, and infrastructure. In the early 2000s, the city proposed charging commuters working in the city a surcharge to use bathroom facilities, which would be used to fund a new water and sewerage system. Well, when commuters threatened to quit jobs and go elsewhere, leaving companies devoid of employees with no one to fill the positions, that genius idea never materialized. As recently as 2024, Atlanta had multiple water main breaks and was fined $300,000 for sewage spills in the Chattahoochee River just last month. How has Atlanta corrected its water and sewerage problem to support these huge data centers? That has never been disclosed. What has been disclosed is that Atlanta will need $2 billion dollars to upgrade the aging water and sewerage system. That is over a period of 20 years. In May of 2026, the city’s credit rating was upgraded in order to upgrade the system.
Wonder how smaller communities are going to deal with upgrading their systems to support these data center beasts?
The final problem with data centers is various levels of pollution. What is in the used water they are going to dump? Will it go into the sewer system or back into the environment? Will treatment facilities be able to remove it? What about the noise? Even low-level humming can wreak havoc on residents and wildlife. And there are the diesel back-up generators that would run in the case of an electricity outage. That’s certainly a “low carbon” footprint (sarc). Oh, but they can participate in a program that helps expand “renewable” energy, which would help “reduce” their electric-based carbon footprint. Bull manure!!
UGH!! I am so sick and tired of hearing about reducing carbon footprints when carbon dioxide is needed for plant growth. Don’t think for one minute these data center beasts are going to use solar, wind, and water power. Nope, not by a long shot. Those beasts will get the “reliable” energy while residents will subsist on solar, wind, water, and battery. And, if your smart meter triggers the power company that you are using too much, get ready for rolling blackouts.
And, then there is the effect on property taxes. Since the data center has been proposed and is now under construction in my former hometown, property taxes have been increased four times. It’s not going to get better either.
At least Ohioans got smart, standing up and pushing back against big tech. There is a bill floating in the Ohio legislature that would lift tax breaks for data centers and halt data center projects. But, like all other states, Ohio has enticed data centers to set up shop. Sometimes, those data centers are located in poorer counties using 31 times more power than the entire county. Moreover, these data centers can use millions of gallons of water per day, placing a significant strain on water quality, supply, and infrastructure. Unfortunately, the moratoriums placed on data center projects are short-term.
The people of Georgia better wake up and smell the manure before it’s too late. We got out before the data center within 3 miles of our former home becomes operational. And, the area where we formerly resided is going industrial very soon. Even with moving, there is no escape from the data center overtaking of local resources. The people, who are the government, are being shoved in the corner by their elected representatives in favor of the cold, hard data center megabeast.
Residents were able to return to their homes a few hours later after the eruption of Mt. Hamner. The display didn’t last long, but USGS scientists were concerned about smaller fits by the fickle lady. Most residents weren’t concerned about further fits since the display was short-lived and ceased as suddenly as it started. One resident, seemingly unconcerned about returning, stated, “We’ve lived here long enough to know that when she blows her stack, it’s full-bodied, short, and usually warranted.”
