Effingham County Tables OpenAI Project Camellia Site Plan to Nov. 17

Effingham County's Board of Commissioners in Georgia voted unanimously on Nov. 3 to table OpenAI's Project Camellia site plan, a 1,347-acre data center campus, until Nov. 17, the Effingham Herald reported.

District 2 Commissioner Roger Burdette made the motion after pressing Rich Modliszewski, the representative of Octans GA LLC, the OpenAI affiliate behind the application. Burdette said the presentation lacked clarity and conflicted with what OpenAI representatives had told him about noise-reducing berms. The plan contained no written commitment to a 20-foot dirt berm along Hodgeville Road, which borders high-density residential neighborhoods, the Herald reported. Modliszewski first could not confirm the berm, then said after a recess that he could promise one. Burdette kept his motion.

District 4 Commissioner Beth Helmly said the board would discuss a data center moratorium at its next meeting. Commissioners also approved the county zoning ordinance and adopted its official zoning map on the same night, finishing business left open at their previous meeting, according to the Herald.

For power and grid planners, the delay matters because the site plan is a local layout approval, not an energy decision. The county says it reviews whether buildings, parking and other infrastructure comply with zoning, and that it must approve a plan that meets the rules. The county said approval would not let the developer fill wetlands before a federal permit is issued. Modliszewski called this a preliminary site plan and said engineering details will be settled later, in the development plan application.

What the site plan contains

The plan covers about 1,347 acres of two parcels in the Savannah Gateway Industrial Hub near Rincon, according to a county staff report summarized by WTOC. It lists six data center buildings, DC01 to DC06, each about 42 feet tall, plus a 100,000-square-foot warehouse and a 75,000-square-foot operations building. It also includes industrial chillers and 1,608 parking spaces, 250 for each data center building.

Outlets differ on the substations. WTOC, citing the staff report, counted three on-site electrical substations, while the Herald listed two. The plan states no megawatt figure in either report. County staff recommended approval, concluding that the application meets the I-1 industrial zoning standards, WTOC reported.

Wetlands, generators and the federal permit

OpenAI filed a federal Section 404 application on Oct. 5 to fill about 72 acres of forested wetlands at the site, the Herald reported. The Army Corps of Engineers was taking public comment through Nov. 4. OpenAI said it is committing more than $20 million to mitigation through federally approved wetland conservation banks, and that county approval would not supersede the Corps review.

Commissioners also asked about water and sewer service and about generators. OpenAI had committed to battery storage as backup power, and Modliszewski said generators would serve only life-safety and security systems, not the data center buildings, the Herald reported.

Pushback and what comes next

The vote had been due on Sept. 15, but the applicant asked to postpone it. Residents filled the chamber on election night, and the Protect Effingham group welcomed the delay while saying it wants more time. Resident Jerri Howell said a petition with more than 1,500 signatures seeks to bar data centers in all zoning districts, and called a moratorium too little, too late.

The project already has a power contract. As Voltgrid reported, Georgia Power's agreement to serve OpenAI's Effingham County project covers 3,200 MW of new demand, and OpenAI has pledged to curb up to 1,000 MW during grid emergencies.

What is not confirmed yet

Whether commissioners approve the plan on Nov. 17 is open, as is the outcome of any moratorium. The Army Corps has not issued its wetlands decision, and lawsuits over the project are unresolved, WTOC reported.