Adapted from Commissioner Terry’s July 7, 2026 e-newsletter.
Today, the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners voted 6-1 to pass a resolution extending the moratorium on data center applications. I was the sole dissenting vote.
I voted ‘no’ because this resolution is a sham. It was walked onto the agenda and pushed through on its first read, deliberately circumventing the normal, transparent committee process.
By bypassing our standard procedures, the Commission silenced the community and sidelined elected representatives from doing the vital work of public engagement.
While the text of the resolution claims the County intends to research the adverse impacts of data centers including the well-documented ‘heat island’ effect; it relies entirely on an internal review by county departments directed by the Chief Executive Officer. It offers no mandate for the rigorous, independent environmental and health impact study that DeKalb County desperately needs.
We cannot allow massive data centers to consume our resources and impact our local environment without objective, third-party scrutiny. We need real ratepayer protections, strict regulations on resource consumption, and unvarnished data about what these facilities mean for our air, water, and power grids.
The residents of DeKalb County deserve transparency, not closed-door reviews that exclude their voices. I will continue fighting for a comprehensive, independent environmental and health impact study, and I urge my colleagues to bring this conversation out of the shadows and back to the community where it belongs.
…
Ted
