Georgia Power, the largest utility company in the state, is acquiring 30 residential properties through sale or eminent domain to upgrade its electrical grid. The project involves connecting the Ashley Park Substation to Plant Wansley, crossing Fayette, Heard, Fulton, and Coweta counties. This has sparked a national debate over the use of eminent domain for AI-related infrastructure.
Ansley Brown's family home is among the properties taken
One affected family, the Browns, shared their story on Instagram. Ansley Brown posted a video showing her childhood home, which will be bulldozed for power line expansion. "They are taking people's homes, and we have no choice," she said, claiming the expansion is for data centers. After contacting Representative Brian Jack, the family reached a settlement with Georgia Power for an undisclosed amount.
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Connections to AI data centers and energy demands
While Georgia Power states the project is not directly for a data center, the substation is less than five miles from a massive data center accused of using 29 million gallons of water. This incident highlights the growing tension between AI infrastructure and local communities. As previously discussed, LLMs are insecure by design, but the physical expansion of data centers also raises ethical and social concerns. The energy hunger of AI is driving billions in grid upgrades, with costs passed to consumers.
Policy responses and regulatory challenges
The Trump administration has pushed for data centers to win the AI race against China, but the U.S. power grid lags behind. The "ratepayer protection pledge" aims to control costs, but according to authoritative sources like Wikipedia on eminent domain, protections are weak. California has attempted to legislate, but tech companies lobby against it. Currently, only Oregon imposes a 30% surcharge on large consumers like data centers, cutting residential bills by 1.3%.
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