Georgia counties and cities are writing data center rules faster than anyone is tracking them, and a county official trying to find out what the county next door did has nowhere good to look. This is our attempt at that list.
What is on it. Moratoria, bans, adopted ordinances, and pending regulation affecting data center development in Georgia, at the county, municipal, and state level.
Sourcing rule. Every entry links to the action itself — a county or state document where one is published, and otherwise the report of record. Where we could not get to a source we are willing to put a reader’s name against, the entry is not here. That means this list is shorter than the real landscape, which is the trade we would rather make.
Dates matter more than status. A pause adopted in May with a 180-day clock may have lapsed by the time you read this, and several of these will have. Each entry carries the date of the action it describes. Check the source before relying on any of them, and tell us when one has moved.
Statewide
House Bill 1012 (proposed). Would bar counties and municipalities from issuing any permit, licence, or certificate authorising the construction or development of a new data center until 1 March 2027, with an exception for approvals issued before 1 July 2026. Sponsored by Rep. Ruwa Romman. Introduced; not enacted. Good Jobs First
House Bill 1059 — the Data Center Impact Assessment and Development Moratorium Act of 2026 (proposed). A separate measure, which would bar counties and municipalities from issuing permits, licences, or certificates relevant to data center construction while the state assesses impacts on communities, infrastructure, and environmental resources. Sponsored by Rep. Derrick Jackson (District 68). Assigned to the House Technology and Infrastructure Innovation Committee. Bill page, Georgia General Assembly · Georgia Municipal Association bill tracker
The scale of it. As of mid-2026, roughly 34 counties and 23 cities had adopted a moratorium, adopted an ordinance, or were drafting one — about one in five Georgia counties. Georgia Public Broadcasting
Metro, north, and northeast Georgia
Athens-Clarke County — moratorium in place. A data center moratorium is in force, with an extension under consideration. Grady Newsource
Coweta County — 180-day moratorium, adopted May 2026. Set to expire 3 November. A draft ordinance would permit data centers only in light-industrial and industrial districts, subject to location, buffer, noise, lighting, traffic, and utility standards. Times-Herald · WSB Radio, on the extension
DeKalb County — moratorium extended through 30 March 2027. Commissioners voted on 7 July 2026 to extend, following a 23 June 2026 vote in which the commission rejected the land-use and zoning amendments drafted for data centers and returned them for redrafting. A data center text amendment to tighten the zoning rules remains under consideration. WABE · Decaturish, on the 23 June vote · DeKalb County, on the text amendment
Forsyth County — ordinance adopted. Among the stricter in the state: it bars data center cooling systems from drawing on the county water system, and sets minimum building-height standards. Georgia Public Broadcasting
Gordon County — temporary moratorium, extended to 15 June 2026. That date has passed; we have not confirmed what followed it. Citizen Portal
Hall County — 180-day moratorium under debate. The commission is debating a pause on data center rezoning and permit applications while the county revises its development code. Not adopted as of this entry. Report via Yahoo News
Jackson County — six-month pause, with tiered separation rules. A six-month pause on data center applications, alongside separation requirements reported at roughly 1,000 feet from existing residences and up to about 150 feet from major arterials. Georgia Public Broadcasting
Meriwether County — temporary moratorium, extended 90 days. Extended while staff draft an ordinance. Citizen Portal
Savannah River corridor, the CSRA, and south Georgia
Augusta–Richmond County — hold on new data centers, mid-2026. Placed amid neighbourhood opposition to a contested project. WRDW
Dougherty County — moratorium in force, extended 180 days. The Board of Commissioners adopted a 45-day moratorium on accepting and approving data center zoning applications on 20 July 2026, on the basis that the county’s zoning ordinance contained no data center provisions at all. Commissioners voted unanimously on 31 August 2026 to extend it by a further 180 days while an ordinance is drafted. Dougherty County announcement · WALB, on the extension
Lee County — moratorium in force, extension under consideration. Commissioners considered extending the county’s data center moratorium through the end of 2026 while an ordinance is drafted, including a proposed zoning district specific to the use. Reported 27 May 2026. WALB
City-level
Fayetteville, Fayette County — data centers removed from the business-center district. The city amended its Unified Development Ordinance to strike data centers from that district, reported as an effective permanent ban inside the city limits. Report via Yahoo News
How to read this
A moratorium is not a ban and is not a verdict. In nearly every county above, the stated reason for the pause is the same: the zoning ordinance was written before this use existed, and the county would rather stop the clock than approve or refuse an application under rules that do not fit it. Several of these counties will finish an ordinance and start accepting applications again.
What the adopted ordinances show is that the counties writing rules are not writing the same rules. Forsyth shut its municipal water off to cooling systems. Jackson set separation distances from homes. Coweta confined the use to industrial districts and attached standards to it. Fayetteville removed the use from a district altogether. A developer who has read one Georgia ordinance has read one Georgia ordinance.
It also means something for timing. A moratorium adopted while a project is in diligence is the most expensive kind of surprise, and it is a forecastable one — the discussion that produces a moratorium is usually visible in commission agendas for months beforehand. That is the reason a candidate-county assessment should include ordinance and moratorium exposure rather than power, water, and land price alone.