She moved to rural Georgia, then learned a hyperscale data center was planned through her backyard

Rural Coweta County, Georgia, seemed like a place for Laura Beth to get away from the spread of development she had tried to leave behind. Now, that quieter move has been overshadowed by the prospect of a massive hyperscale data center rising almost next door.

What started as one family's attempt at a quieter fresh start has now become part of a much larger national fight over the infrastructure boom in the race to support artificial intelligence

What happened?

Beth said her family moved to Coweta County in 2023 because the area felt removed from the kind of growth they did not want around them. That changed earlier this year, when she learned that Project Sail — a proposed hyperscale data center campus covering more than 4.9 million square feet — could be built in Coweta County, TIME reported.

"I didn't know who to reach out to, who to talk to, who could give me some more information," Beth said.

From there, Beth created a Facebook group called "Stop Project Sail." It has since grown to more than 8,000 members and become a rallying point for petitions, yard signs, and a legal challenge to the development.

Coweta County Administrator Michael Fouts told TIME: "The Board ultimately voted in favor, 3-2, of Project Sail, with those who approved stating its long-term financial benefits it will provide to Coweta County."

Soon after that vote, four more data centers were proposed in the county.

Concern about data center growth extends well beyond Coweta County. Citing a June Reuters poll, TIME reported that roughly one-third of Americans support the current pace of data center construction, and just 14% said they would be comfortable living near one.

Why does it matter?

Steve Swope, a Coweta County resident who relies on well water, fears the construction could cause serious damage underground. "Our wells will either run dry or they'll become polluted and caked with sediment and mud," he said, according to TIME. 

John Farner, executive director of land and water for the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, told TIME: "What we're seeing now, especially with the advent of hyperscale data centers, is that they're much larger, much more powerful. They're much more resource intensive."

While AI can help improve forecasting, speed up grid management, and optimize clean-energy systems, the data centers that power those tools can also consume enormous amounts of electricity and water. That can put pressure on local utilities, strain water supplies, and raise household bills.

Nearby communities may end up footing the bill for infrastructure they never asked for while also dealing with more noise, more construction, and greater environmental risk.

What's being done?

In Coweta County, residents moved quickly to organize. Beth's group has helped mobilize neighbors, and opponents have continued pressing their case in public and through the courts. Even after Project Sail won approval, local resistance kept building, TIME reported.

County leaders later approved a moratorium on future data center proposals in May, though many residents said the move came too late to address the immediate threat already facing them.

Swope summed it up this way: "It's kind of like, well, the horses are all out of the barn — let's be sure to close the door now."

Resistance has spread well beyond Georgia. According to TIME, citing a count by The Information, communities in more than 300 cities, towns, and counties have enacted bans or moratoriums on hyperscale data center construction, and organized local opposition helped delay or cancel 75 major projects in the first three months of 2026.

For Beth, the uncertainty itself has become a heavy burden. "The unknown drives this cycle of [asking] do we move? I don't really want to move. Where do we move to?" she said. "If we stay here, this is going to be in our backyard."

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