FW: Columbus Ledger: Proposed data center would use more power than the entire City of Columbus

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From: Mark Woodall <woodal...@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2026 6:38 AM
To: Neill Herring <neillh...@earthlink.net>
Subject: Columbus Ledger: Proposed data center would use more power than the entire City of Columbus

 

 

 

Columbus data center Project Ruby would require more power than all of city’s usage 

 

By Kala Hunter Updated February 25, 2026 

 

 The developer of a planned data center in Columbus requested an energy feasibility study for up to 600 megawatts of energy to power a hyperscale campus in the northeast corner of Muscogee County, an official with Electric Membership Co-op Flint Energies told the Ledger-Enquirer. Project Ruby’s 600 MW request would be more than the entire resource needs of all of Columbus. Georgia Power communications specialist Mathew Kent said Columbus residential and commercial users total 550 MW. 

 

The developer for Project Ruby, Habitat Partners, requested a method of service study, according to the vice president of power supply at Flint Energies, Jake Hopkins. The service request was to determine whether energy could be transmitted in three tranches, 200 MW starting in 2029, reaching 600 MW by 2034. “The study confirmed that the transmission facilities could handle that request,” Hopkins said. However, the current energy capacity of Flint Energies is around 450 MW, 500 MW at peak capacity. The power generation in Flint Energies gives power to 80,000 members (100,000 usage meters) from Houston County to the outskirts of Columbus. 

 

 The majority of the resources that give power to Flint Energies EMC members is natural gas. Natural gas makes up 78%, according to Hopkins. The remainder is 10% solar, 5% coal, 4% nuclear and 3% hydro. Flint Energies Electric Membership Co-op energy portfolio Flint Energies/Marian Mclemore Natural gas is made up of methane which is a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to human-caused climate change. When natural gas is burned, it emits carbon dioxide, a less potent greenhouse gas. But when it leaks during transmission in pipelines, which MIT Climate reported is more common than previously known, it adds to the greenhouse effect. 

 

Hopkins did not say what type of source would power the 600 MW, only that they would be able to accommodate it so long as it doesn’t “put current membership at risk.” If the developer wants onsite power generation (solar arrays atop or adjacent to the data center warehouses), Hopkins said Flint Energies is open to that. Flint Energies is one of 38 Georgia electric cooperatives (EMCs), wholesale power purchasers that buy power from Oglethorpe Power. One plant owned by Oglethorpe Power, Talbot Energy Facility, is near the planned data center and a natural gas plant but not within Flint Energies portfolio and would not be part of the Project Ruby power, Hopkins confirmed.

 

 Who pays for the electricity? Hopkins said it’s hard to say whether a data center would affect the electric bills of Flint Energies customers. “We are a not-for-profit, and our goal is to put downward pressure on rates,” Hopkins said. Flint Energies is neither for against data centers, Hopkins said. “When someone asks us for power, we don’t really have the ability to say no,” Hopkins said. “If (Columbus) has the desire for data centers and would like Flint to serve it, then we would. It requires our community to want it and desire it. We are not out attracting any to the area. “

 

  During the Columbus Council meeting Tuesday night, Choose Columbus president and CEO Missy Kendrick gave a presentation about Project Ruby at Mayor Skip Henderson’s request. She said Flint Energies will create a separate contract for Project Ruby, if it goes forward. “Flint Energies is taking all of their customers, everything that they currently have in place now, and they’re keeping it all in place on one contract,” she said. “They’re putting this data center on a completely separate contract. I think that they’re probably doing that to try to make sure there’s a separation, and make sure that they can allocate expenses and costs to each group.“

Read more at: https://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/environment/article314824746.html#storylink=cpy

 

Columbus residents speak against proposed data center. More project details shared

 

 By Kala Hunter Updated February 25, 2026 

 

 The Columbus Council heard during its meeting Tuesday night two opposing views about a proposed data center: pause the project and next steps to continue. Several residents spoke against data centers during the meeting’s public agenda. “This is too big of a decision to take lightly, and it will impact future generations,” Kaycee Burdett told the council. “We’ve seen communities be negatively impacted by damage to natural waterways, and there is an overall growing concern with generative AI, especially in their use of clean water to maintain hardware temperature and data warehouses.” Burdett requested proper risk assessment and transparency during this process. She also said the proposed data center’s promised 195 jobs (with salaries ranging between $80,000 and $120,000 per year) equal less than 1% of Columbus’ population. 

 

The data center proposal, named Project Ruby, has an estimated cost of $5.18 billion, spanning land acquisition, building construction and equipment installation between 2027 and 2030, according to Choose Columbus. The site selected for the project comprises approximately 900 undeveloped acres in northeast Muscogee County, bordering Harris and Talbot counties. 

 

 Troy Keller, chairman of the Enviornmental Science Department at Columbus State University and a member of Clean Energy Columbus, took the opposition a step further, officially requesting a moratorium for 90 or 180 days on data center development in the city. Columbus resident Troy Keller speaks about the proposed data center, Project Ruby, during a Columbus Council meeting Feb. 24, 2026. Mike Haskey mha...@ledger-enquirer.com “Given all of the uncertainties associated with data centers, I’d like to suggest four reasons to consider a moratorium,” he said. Keller listed noise and light pollution to nearby Midland families, a legacy impact on the water and sewer system, the energy strain on the grid that could come at a cost to families and the air pollution that comes along with what the constant power source would be. 

 

So far, dozens of cities and counties across Georgia have created moratoriums on data centers. Georgia state Rep. Ruwa Romman sponsored a bill last month that would put a statewide moratorium on data centers for a year. That bill (HB 1012) is pending in the House. What do Columbus Councilors think about requested moratorium on data centers? Columbus Councilor John Anker of citywide District 9 told the Ledger-Enquirer on Wednesday he does not support a moratorium. “I don’t find it necessary at this point,” Anker said. “This is not a hurried, rushed approach. “ Councilor Charmaine Crabb of District 5 declined to comment when the L-E asked her opinion. The other councilors didn’t reply to the L-E’s request for comment before publication. 

 

After the citizens spoke, Mayor Skip Henderson invited Missy Kendrick, president and CEO of Choose Columbus and the Development Authority of Columbus president, to share the information she has about the proposed data center. Kendrick disclosed the developers, Habitat Partners, originally wanted to do wetland mitigation work on the 900-acres of land near Midland, which was turned down because “market numbers were too soft.”    She said the developers suggested a solar farm, and she turned down that idea because that would clear too many trees, but she welcomed a data center project. “A data center project would fit perfectly,” she said. 

 

Kendrick noted data centers have been in Columbus since the 1960s. “I would bet that most of the people in this room cannot tell you where they are,” she said, “and they’re not hidden. “ The TSYS data center was built in 1997 and used 7.5 megawatts of power at 8 Corporate Ridge Parkway, according to Data Center Map. It closed after it was aquired by Global Payments in 2019, Anker told the Ledger-Enquirer. Other data centers in Columbus are not publicly listed. The Ledger-Enquirer has not heard back from Kendrick about examples of other data centers in Columbus.

 

 “Early data centers did make a lot of noise and did use a lot of water,” Kendrick said during the council meeting. “But, as next generations have come along, they have come up with ways to mitigate some of the factors.”   Kendrick said she would like to see the planning committee require the data center to have setbacks, noise ordinances. “We’d like to see a sound requirement put in the overlay district of minimum 85 megahertz,” she said. Megahertz are not a measurement of how loud noise is; decibels are. Kendrick has not responded to the L-E’s request regarding the decibels she may have been referring to. Toward the end of Kendrick’s 20-minute presentation, she emphasized this is the most minimally impacted site she has seen for a data center. “They are not just going to go in and tear down all of the trees on site,” she said.

Read more at: https://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/environment/article314826261.html#storylink=cpy