{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.warnock.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warnock-visits-future-openai-data-center-site-calls-for-statewide-moratorium/", "Warnock Visits Future OpenAI Data Center Site, Calls for Statewide Moratorium", "2026-08-28", "2026", "2026-08", "Democrat", "Senate", "GA", "Raphael G. Warnock", "W000790", "www.warnock.senate.gov", "warnock", "https://www.warnock.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/", "scraper", "Today, Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock met with residents in Effingham County to discuss the impact of OpenAI\u2019s proposed data center on their community\n\nIn July, OpenAI announced it would construct a 3.2-gigawatt data center in Effingham County, Georgia\n\nSenator Warnock called for a moratorium on data center construction that can only be lifted for specific projects if certain safeguards around utility bills, transparency, and pollution are put in place\n\nVIDEO: Senator Reverend Warnock Calls for Statewide Data Center Moratorium\n\nSenator Reverend Warnock: \u201cThe lack of transparency here in Effingham County and in counties across our state and across the country is unacceptable, and that\u2019s why today I\u2019m calling for a moratorium on data centers\u201d\n\nGuyton, GA \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) visited the proposed site of OpenAI\u2019s new 3.2-gigawatt data center in Effingham County. Senator Warnock viewed the site of the proposed project with Effingham resident John Smith who lives across the street from the site. Then, Senator Warnock met with several residents and members of the Protect Effingham Alliance who raised serious concerns about the impact of OpenAI\u2019s plan on their community, specifically higher utility costs and more water, light, and noise pollution.\n\nAfter speaking with local residents, Senator Warnock announced his support for a statewide moratorium on data center construction.\n\nUnder Senator Warnock\u2019s proposal, the moratorium can be lifted for a specific project only if:\n\nThere are no water or electric bill increases because of the data center\n\nThere are no sweetheart tax giveaways to developers\n\nThere are no NDAs\n\nThe data center will not cause air and water pollution\n\nThere is no ambiguity around noise and light pollution\n\n\u201cData center developers across the country are not operating in partnership with communities, and that\u2019s why everyday citizens on both sides of the aisle are rightly and equally concerned about this,\u201d said Senator Warnock. \u201cThe lack of transparency here in Effingham County and in counties across our state and across the country is unacceptable, and that\u2019s why today I\u2019m calling for a moratorium on data centers.\u201d\n\nEarlier this year, OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, announced plans to construct a new 1,400-acre data center in Effingham County, Georgia. The $20 billion proposal, named \u201cProject Camellia,\u201d will require 3.2 gigawatts, the equivalent of providing power for 2.3 million homes.\n\nEffingham County residents were effectively excluded from the decision-making process, despite well-founded concerns that \u201cProject Camellia\u201d could raise electricity rates, create disruptive light and noise pollution, and otherwise affect the local community and nearby elementary school.\n\nEarlier this year, Senator Warnock sent a letter calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to provide local communities with tools, resources, best practices, and protections as they negotiate with multi-billion-dollar data center corporations. Specifically, this letter focused on concerns about data centers straining community water supplies, especially while Georgia experiences a historic drought.\n\n###", 1, "2026-08-29T11:31:28Z", "2026-08-29T11:32:37Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.warnock.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warnock-visits-future-openai-data-center-site-calls-for-statewide-moratorium/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4743153005838394, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}