OpenAI’s Georgia data center plans

OpenAI is planning a significant data center complex in Effingham County, Georgia, intended to support growing demand for artificial intelligence services. The development, known as Project Camellia, will be built over several years and is positioned as one of the company’s largest infrastructure initiatives.

The project will be located in an industrial area of the county and is structured as a multi-phase buildout. This approach is designed to bring capacity online gradually while long-term construction and power infrastructure are completed.

To supply the new facility, OpenAI has contracted with Georgia Power for 3.2 gigawatts of electricity. Several hundred megawatts of this capacity are scheduled to come online starting in 2028, with the remainder added through 2032 as the site is built out.

Georgia Power’s parent, Southern Company (SO), has entered into a 25-year power-supply agreement with OpenAI for the Effingham County project. The long duration of the contract is intended to support reliable, large-scale operations at the data center campus over time.

As part of the agreement, OpenAI has committed to provide up to 1,000 megawatts of flexible demand response. This means the company can reduce its power use when the grid is under stress, helping support overall system reliability.

OpenAI will pay the full infrastructure and electric-service costs needed to serve the new facility. This includes investments in the power delivery systems required to handle the 3.2-gigawatt contracted capacity.

Beyond direct infrastructure spending, the company has pledged $80 million in local community benefits. These funds are intended for community-focused initiatives in the surrounding area.

OpenAI has also committed up to $71 million in Codex credits for students in Georgia. These credits will provide access to the company’s tools for educational use, aligning part of the project’s impact with workforce and skills development.

Project Camellia is expected to create a substantial number of construction jobs during the buildout phase. Local reporting indicates that the scale of the site and its multi-year schedule will require a sustained construction workforce.

Once operational, the complex is projected to support about 400 long-term jobs initially. Some local projections see permanent employment potentially growing to roughly 1,000 positions by 2032 as additional phases of the campus are completed.

These jobs, combined with infrastructure spending and community investments, position the project as a significant economic development initiative for Effingham County and the wider region while expanding OpenAI’s computing capacity.