State pausing review of data center plans

An Atlanta-based environmental advocate is criticizing the Georgia Department of Region Affairs DCA decision to pause state reviews of new facts center proposals While the decision will not stop local governments from approving input center projects it will rob local water planners of the state s valuable input Chris Manganiello water procedures director for the nonprofit group Chattahoochee Riverkeeper announced Thursday Rather than the state helping regions think through this stuff it s going to leave planners flying blind he revealed We ll end up with a patchwork of moratoria and ordinances at the local level addressing material center progress Manganiello s comments came during the kickoff meeting of a Georgia House subcommittee examining the expected impacts of the growing number of information centers springing up across the state on water use A second subcommittee is looking at how figures centers are likely to affect consumption of electricity Figures centers have exploded so speedily that elected representatives in DeKalb Coweta Douglas and Bartow counties have imposed moratoria on new projects The Atlanta City Council voted last month to prohibit details centers from setting up in several neighborhoods and require developers to seek a special-use permit for construction Danny Johnson director of the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District advised water subcommittee members more than statistics centers are operating at this moment in Georgia while more than more have been proposed Material centers use huge quantities of water with a typical records center consuming the same amount of water per day as the cities of Marietta or Valdosta he explained However figures center developers have proven willing to install water-saving strategies including closed-loop cooling to reduce their water consumption even though such apparatus is expensive We encourage smart sustainable expansion that ensures critical infrastructure like facts centers can thrive without compromising our water materials Jackson commented The facts center industry remains committed to responsible water use in Georgia communities added Dan Diorio vice president of state framework for the Northern Virginia-based Records Center Coalition Details centers prioritize efficient water practices and responsible management to minimize their water footprint Manganiello suggested that the General Assembly put limits on tax incentives the state offers to attract high-resource use facilities to Georgia requiring that they disclose how much electricity and water they plan to use A bipartisan bill to that effect sponsored by state Rep Debbie Buckner D-Junction City failed to gain traction during this year s legislative session Manganiello also recommended that the state use tax credits to incentivize figures centers to employ water-saving system and establish a self-sustaining infrastructure fund to help encouragement details centers The water subcommittee will hold two more meetings in South Georgia one in Moultrie next month and the other in Claxton in September before issuing findings and recommendations The post State pausing review of information center plans appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta