Microsoft plans a 422-megawatt campus in Georgia

Microsoft plans a data-center campus outside Rome, Georgia, with a peak load of 422 megawatts, according to forms Floyd County submitted to Georgia’s Department of Community Affairs on Oct. 20.

The forms, filed for the state’s review of large projects that can affect neighboring areas, describe a project called ATL80: three buildings totaling up to 1,659,000 square feet on 349 acres north of Huffaker Road. Georgia Power would supply the power, and completion is due in 2032.

The forms name Microsoft Corporation itself as developer. They give its Redmond, Washington, land office as the address and a Microsoft email address for the property owner. Brice Wood, the Rome-Floyd County planning director, filled them in; the form makes the county official who completes it responsible for its accuracy.

Microsoft bought the land three years ago. On Oct. 30, 2023, the Rome Floyd County Development Authority announced that it had bought 347 acres on Huffaker Road for a campus serving its Azure cloud business, with 150 jobs and more than $1bn of investment. Paul Englis, Microsoft’s director of community engagement, explained the choice in the authority’s release: “Rome and Floyd County’s industrial zoning and strong infrastructure led to our decision to locate our data center campus there.”

The new filing puts the campus’s value at build-out at $340m and its local tax revenue at $36m a year, with 150 full-time jobs, as in 2023. The form does not say what the build-out value includes, so it does not compare directly with the investment announced then.

The power question

The forms tell the state that existing transmission and distribution lines are sufficient, yet the work they list includes an on-site substation and a transmission line extended to the site. The form ticks yes on on-site generation, but the only plant it describes is diesel generators for backup. It names no turbines, fuel cells or solar arrays.

Water is a small line for a campus this size. The filing puts peak demand at 13,500 gallons a day, drawn from Floyd County’s system, Old Mill Spring and groundwater. The form says no sewer lines run near the site, so wastewater will be treated and discharged on site.

A traffic study found that road improvements are needed, and Microsoft needs federal and state permits to disturb 0.81 acre of wetland and 2,255 feet of stream, with the loss offset through a private mitigation bank.

Georgia Power’s own filings cannot say where ATL80 stands in line. Its quarterly large-load report to the Public Service Commission, filed Aug. 17 for the period to June 30, redacts every project’s name, city and county as a trade secret. It shows 15,600 megawatts of commitments from 32 large customers, up 3,200 megawatts in a quarter. At full load ATL80 would equal 2.7%* of those commitments.

The local record shows why the queue matters. Minutes of the development authority’s Aug. 18 meeting record that Atlas Development ended its contract to buy the authority’s Battey Business Complex for a data center. Atlas told the authority’s lawyer that Georgia Power had placed the site lower in its process, and that it might be three to four years before the utility could assess the site’s power needs. The forms give no date for first power.

The tax terms are harder to pin down. The authority’s 2023 release mentions no tax break, and Rackline found no bond resolution, lease or abatement agreement for the project in the authority’s posted agendas and minutes, which begin in January 2026. The forms ask the county only for permits, not a rezoning or variance, which fits land already zoned for industry.

The filing starts a review. Under state rules the regional commission has 30 days from its determination to issue an advisory report, and Floyd County cannot take final action until it does.

The county has also tightened its own rules. Its commissioners voted 4-0 on June 9 for an 80-day moratorium on data-center permits, then voted 4-0 on Aug. 25 to amend the development code for data centers.

Verdict

Microsoft is planning in Floyd County under its own name, with a filed size, a filed load and a 2032 finish. The record does not show when Georgia Power will connect the campus, or whether the development authority granted tax relief to land it. The power date is the bigger risk: another data-center buyer has already walked away from a Rome site over Georgia Power’s timetable, and the utility keeps ATL80’s place in line out of public view.

Signposts

The regional commission’s decision on whether the project needs the review is due by Oct. 25*, and its report by Nov. 24* absent extensions. Floyd County commissioners meet on Oct. 27, Nov. 10 and Nov. 24. Georgia Power’s third-quarter large-load report follows; last year’s was filed on Nov. 21.

*Rackline estimate; see the method note.

Method note: The 2.7% divides the 422-megawatt peak connected load in the state filing (Part 2 form, Oct. 20, 2026) by Georgia Power’s 15,600 megawatts of large-load commitments at June 30, 2026 (quarterly large-load report, Aug. 17, 2026). The Oct. 25 and Nov. 24 dates come from the state’s regional-impact review rules: a determination within five days of the Oct. 20 submission, and a report within 30 days of that determination, taking the full time allowed at each step. Both dates move later if the regional commission rules the form incomplete. The 347 acres (development authority release, Oct. 30, 2023) and the 0.81 acre of wetland (Part 2 form) are approximate as given in those documents.