WABE: Emory researchers get $1 M grant to study data center impacts

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Emory researchers receive $1 million grant to study impacts of data center development

Jim Burress | WABE

February 24th, 2026

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As the data center boom continues to try to keep up with the growth of artificial intelligence, local communities are raising concerns about how they will be affected by these large-scale, resource-hungry developments.

To explore that question, researchers at Emory University have partnered with the University of Tennessee to conduct a three-year study, funded by a $1 million grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Related story: What’s powering Atlanta’s data center growth — and what it means for you

 

Associate professor of environmental science Jola Ajibade and associate professor of anthropology Kristin Phillips joined “All Things Considered” to elaborate on how the study will be conducted and what they hope to learn.

They say the project will examine the electricity costs for individual ratepayers, structural changes to how energy is supplied and consumed, as well as land use, water consumption and other issues of environmental and social justice.

 

“I think a lot of people know that AI and data centers are and will transform society for better or for worse,” said Ajibade. “And the question is, you know, is Georgia willing to essentially direct a lot of its electricity usage to data centers? We want to know that.”

They plan to apply a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods across three states — Georgia, Virginia and Tennessee — as case studies of emerging and established data center markets.

“So I think not just doing a point-in-time analysis, but understanding how these decisions are playing out over time is really important so that communities have a chance to sort of review what’s happening here and what mechanisms they need to build in to protect themselves from the risks and the particularly local impacts of data centers for their communities,” said Phillips.

Christopher Alston contributed to this report.