Georgia Power expanding grid near West Midtown data center as neighbors rally against it
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — Neighbors in Atlanta’s Howell Station neighborhood say plans for high-voltage power lines near a massive data center pose safety, health and environmental risks.
“Unfortunately, we’re in the lone neighborhood in between these two substations, so we don’t have a lot of bargaining power when it comes to our personal property or our private lives,” said Sabrina Cown, who lives in the Howell Station neighborhood.
Leadership from the Historic Howell Station Neighborhood Association is set to meet with officials from Georgia Power on Tuesday, with hopes that the energy company will reroute power lines away from their neighborhood.
In March, the Fulton County Board of Commissioners approved a land easement agreement, allowing Georgia Power to use roughly 2.5 acres of land by the Fulton County Jail in an effort to extend its grid between two Georgia Power substations, roughly a half-mile from each other.
Legislation, approved by the board, stated that Georgia Power paid Fulton County roughly $3.5 million to access the land.
Neighbors said the power lines are meant to serve the energy needs of QTS, a massive data center sitting adjacent to the Fulton County Jail and the neighborhood.
“Running additional lines is for the data center,” said Jen Upton, another neighbor. “This is to get additional power from one substation that exists on the other side of the jail to the new data center that has slowly been expanding closer and closer to the neighborhood.”
On Tuesday, neither QTS nor Georgia Power confirmed the connection between the planned power lines and serving the energy needs of QTS.
Upton pointed out the forested area at the Foster Place green space at stake of being cut down if the plan moves forward.
“It’s just a beautiful space to just get out and enjoy nature, but now, we’ll have power lines,” Upton said. “If we don’t have this buffer, we don’t have any protection.”
Upton and Cown fear with the massive tree removal, their neighborhood is at risk of public safety threats tied to the proximity to the Fulton County Jail.
Some neighbors also worry about health risks from exposure to high-voltage powerlines.
Fulton County directed questions related to the specifics of the project to Georgia Power.
“We understand and appreciate neighbors’ concerns and questions, and we’re working hard to minimize disruption as we make necessary investments in the power grid. We are working with the Howell Station neighborhood association to schedule a community meeting this month where we can address residents’ questions directly; until that time all tree clearing activities have been paused,” a Georgia Power spokesperson said in a statement.
Neighbors said they were not consulted about the plans or the easement agreement before it was approved by the board in March.
Documents attached to the legislation state “no issues or concerns have been identified” from the community/neighborhood.
“The county, unfortunately, did not tell us anything about this project,” Cown said.
In 2024, Atlanta leaders said data center projects under construction in Atlanta increased by 211% between 2022 and 2023, marking the largest increase in the country.
“It shouldn’t be a price that everybody has to pay. Data centers don’t have to live in a residential area. They can be in areas that are not residential,” Cown said.
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