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Data Center Watch Report · ZIP 31907

Columbus

Muscogee

ApprovedZIP 64.1% Blackpop 61,544county 46.5% Black

Approved (zoning overlay adopted) / Proposed (facility) — and under active litigation

Researched: 2026-08-02 · Lead source: Brockovich AI Data Center community map (1 resident report, 2026-05-25) · ZIP demographics: 64.1% Black, pop 61,544 (Census ACS 2023) · County: Muscogee (46.5% Black, 2020 Census) Status: Approved (zoning overlay adopted) / Proposed (facility) — and under active litigation

0. Snapshot

Columbus and Muscogee County share one consolidated government, so a single 10-member Council makes land-use law for the whole county — including ZIP 31907, the majority-Black east side.

The project driving everything is "Project Ruby": a proposed hyperscale data center campus of roughly 865–987 acres in the northeastern corner of Muscogee County, near the Harris County and Talbot County lines. Announced February 2026. Capital investment stated at more than $5.18 billion between 2027 and 2030. Reported grid demand: 600–900 MW. Developer of record: Habitat Real Estate Partners, working with the Development Authority of Columbus, through an entity named Muscogee Property 1 LLC. The eventual tenant has not been publicly named.

Two things matter for a 31907 resident:

  1. The Ruby site is not in 31907. It is in the county's rural northeast (Upatoi/Harris-Talbot border area). The plaintiffs suing the city are Upatoi-area landowners. If you live in east Columbus, the campus itself would not be your neighbor.
  2. The law that permits it is county-wide. On June 16, 2026, Council passed Ordinance No. 26-034, the "Technology Overlay District," signed by Mayor B.H. "Skip" Henderson III on June 18, 2026. It allows large data centers on sites of 75 acres or more on land currently zoned for farming and rural-residential use — the ordinance is a tool, and the tool now exists everywhere in the consolidated city-county. What follows the first campus is a live question for every part of Columbus, including 31907.

No specific data center facility, application, or rezoning has been found inside ZIP 31907 as of 2026-08-02. The 2026-05-25 resident report on the Brockovich map is consistent with the county-wide Project Ruby fight, but a facility sited in 31907 itself is: Not found as of 2026-08-02.

1. The Facility & Where It Sits

ItemFinding
Project nameProject Ruby
Developer / land entityHabitat Real Estate Partners; Muscogee Property 1 LLC
Public partnerDevelopment Authority of Columbus ("Choose Columbus")
End user / tenantNot disclosed. Not found as of 2026-08-02.
Site size865 acres (GPB, May 2026); ~900 acres and ~987 acres cited in other reporting
Building footprintData center occupies roughly 15% of the site; four buildings on the eastern portion
Power draw600 MW grid connection target; up to 900 MW cited at the March town hall
InvestmentMore than $5.18 billion, 2027–2030 (land, construction, equipment)
StatusEnabling ordinance adopted June 2026; facility itself proposed, not permitted or under construction

Where it sits. Northeastern Muscogee County, bordering Harris County and Talbot County — the rural, low-density corner of the consolidated government, well north and east of the urban core. Buildings are planned toward the eastern side of the site, closest to existing high-voltage transmission lines and a power substation; a new substation and on-site transformers are part of the plan.

Relationship to the Black side of town. ZIP 31907 is east/southeast Columbus and is 64.1% Black — substantially Blacker than the county's 46.5%. The Ruby site is not in that ZIP. The people who filed suit are rural landowners near Upatoi. So the environmental-justice question in Columbus is not "did they put it in the Black ZIP" — it is "who pays for it." A 600–900 MW load on the same Georgia Power system that serves east Columbus, plus wastewater-plant upgrades funded around a single private project, distributes cost and risk across a ratepayer and taxpayer base in which 31907 households sit at the lower-income end. That is the exposure documented here.

Distances from the Ruby site to specific 31907 homes, schools, or churches: Not found as of 2026-08-02. The published site map (GPB, 2026-05-04) is the best available public geography.

2. Public Hearings & Notices

DateBody / action
2026-02-12Project publicly surfaced; $5B / 195 jobs figures reported (WTVM)
2026-02-16"One of the largest technological investments in city's history" coverage (WTVM)
2026-03-08Community town hall organized by Clean Energy Columbus; residents pack the room
2026-03-18Planning Advisory Commission revisits the data center zoning overlay
2026-05-04Site map released showing where on the 865 acres buildings would go (GPB)
2026-05-12First reading of the technology overlay ordinance expected before Council
2026-06-02First reading of the technology overlay ordinance at Columbus Council
2026-06-16Council adopts Ordinance No. 26-034, Technology Overlay District
2026-06-18Mayor Henderson signs 26-034
2026-06-24 → 06-26Lawsuit filed in Muscogee County Superior Court
2026-05-29Chamber of Commerce releases its review of the proposed data center

The litigation. Plaintiffs: Keep It Rural LLC (a Muscogee County landowner group) and eight individual property owners near the site — Stacie Mailey, Debbie Jackson, Charles McClure, Jeremy Gibson, Jordan Kempson, Robert Landi, Wayne Gasser, Debra Jarzomkowski. Defendants: the City of Columbus, Mayor Henderson, and all 10 Council members.

Seven claims are pleaded. The core allegations:

  • Council amended the ordinance after the public hearing — changing setbacks, noise rules, and on-site energy generation policy — then adopted the amended version without holding a new public hearing, in violation of Georgia's Zoning Procedures Law.
  • Council skipped a required first reading on the amended text, violating its own zoning rules.
  • Plaintiffs were denied meaningful notice and a real chance to be heard.
  • The ordinance is an arbitrary use of the zoning power, putting industrial-scale development on residential and agricultural land when industrial-zoned land already exists in the county.

Case number and docket status: Not found as of 2026-08-02. Check the Muscogee County Superior Court clerk (see §8).

3. Power

  • Serving utility at the site: Flint Energies (an EMC) currently serves the area but was reported at the March 2026 town hall as lacking the capacity for this load; Georgia Power is the likely supplier. A new substation is part of the project plan, adjacent to existing high-voltage transmission.
  • Statewide rules (this is the part that reaches 31907): Since February 1, 2025, any Georgia Power customer expecting 100 MW or more of peak demand must operate under a customized contract, not standard tariff rates. The Georgia PSC requires those contracts to carry financial guarantees, terms up to 15 years, minimum monthly payments, and PSC review 30 days before signing.
  • The PSC also ordered Georgia Power to run cost studies and design rates so residential and small-business customers do not bear the cost of generation built mainly for data centers. Whether that is working is disputed. PSC Public Interest Advocacy staff found large industrial customers drive up average fuel costs for all other customers by roughly 5–11% per month. The Commission has opened a separate investigation into fuel-cost allocation between large industrial customers and residential/small-business ratepayers.
  • In March 2026, environmental groups took the PSC to court over the Georgia Power data center expansion (AJC). In May 2026 the PSC backed a disputed Georgia Power fuel deal amid data center cost concerns (GPB).
  • Georgia Power's next general rate case is expected in 2028.

Practical read for a 31907 household: your bill is set at the state level, in dockets in Atlanta, not at Columbus Council. The PSC's own advocacy staff has put a number on large-load fuel-cost spillover. That is the mechanism by which a data center 25 miles away can show up on an east-Columbus power bill.

4. Water & Drought

  • Serving utility: Columbus Water Works, drawing from the Chattahoochee River. At the March 2026 town hall it was reported that CWW has system capacity, but that infrastructure upgrades are needed to deliver water to the site — current pipes are insufficient.
  • Wastewater: the city plant has not been significantly upgraded since the 1960s. Project Ruby has been publicly cited as a funding opportunity for plant improvements and new sewer lines. Residents should read that both ways: it is a real infrastructure need, and it is also a reason for officials to want the project.
  • Specific withdrawal permits, gallons-per-day figures, or a signed water-service agreement for Project Ruby: Not found as of 2026-08-02.
  • Drought: as of the 2026-07-14 U.S. Drought Monitor reading, approximately 33% of Georgia (19,381 sq mi) was in active drought with a further 52% (30,877 sq mi) Abnormally Dry (D0). Earlier in 2026, D2–D4 coverage in Georgia was the highest since 2011. County-specific classification for Muscogee on 2026-08-02: check the live map (link in §10) — the Drought Monitor updates every Thursday.

5. Population & Who Lives Here

  • ZIP 31907: 64.1% Black, population 61,544 (Census ACS 2023, as compiled for this project). This is one of the largest majority-Black ZIP codes in west Georgia.
  • Muscogee County: population 206,922; 46.5% Black, 39.9% White, 2.7% Asian, 3.2% some other race, 7.1% two or more races (2020 Census).
  • 31907 is therefore roughly 18 points Blacker than the county as a whole — the concentration is real and it is on the east side.
  • Poverty rate and income for 31907 specifically: not independently verified here. Pull it yourself from Census QuickFacts / data.census.gov (links in §10) rather than trusting a secondhand number.

6. Money — Abatements, Incentives, Jobs

  • Property tax projection: based on 2025 combined millage rates, Project Ruby is projected to generate escalating annual property tax revenue climbing to $68.7 million per year by 2030, before depreciation. Before depreciation is doing a lot of work in that sentence — data center equipment depreciates fast, and the taxable value falls with it.
  • Jobs: 195 permanent jobs, stated salary range $80,000–$120,000. Construction jobs are temporary and not included in that count.
  • Abatement / PILOT terms: a specific abatement schedule, bond-for-title structure, or PILOT dollar value and duration was not located in public reporting as of 2026-08-02. The deal runs through the Development Authority of Columbus, which is the body that would hold such an agreement. Clean Energy Columbus has publicly opposed tax exemptions for the project and asked for "real revenue."
  • Georgia also has a statewide sales-and-use tax exemption for high-technology data center equipment, which operates independently of any local deal.

Not found as of 2026-08-02: the executed incentive agreement, its term, and its clawback provisions. Request it from the Development Authority in writing (§8).

7. Community Reaction & News Coverage

Columbus has had loud, organized, and sustained opposition — and it produced results other Georgia towns have not gotten: a released site map and a lawsuit.

  • Clean Energy Columbus — organized the March 8, 2026 town hall; called for a moratorium pending environmental and power-use standards; opposes tax exemptions.
  • Keep It Rural LLC — the landowner group now suing the city.
  • Recurring resident concerns: the secrecy ("a mystery"), noise, competition for electricity, utility cost increases, and the absence of any public vote on the project.
  • The 2026 Columbus mayoral race made the data center an issue — WTVM and Yahoo/Ledger-Enquirer both surveyed candidates on it.
  • Regional context: Inside Climate News covered the data center boom reaching west Georgia (April 2026) amid mounting opposition.

Local outlets actually covering this: WTVM (News Leader 9), WRBL, the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Muscogee Muckraker, Georgia Public Broadcasting, Georgia Recorder, Inside Climate News.

8. Find Out For Yourself

All contacts below were located on official government sites or the Georgia Municipal Association directory. Verify before relying on them; phone systems change.

Columbus Consolidated Government — Government Center 100 10th Street, Columbus, GA 31901 (mailing: PO Box 1340, Columbus, GA 31902)

RoleContact
Clerk of CouncilLindsey McLemore — (706) 653-4013 — columbusga.gov/coc
MayorB.H. "Skip" Henderson III (as of the June 2026 ordinance signing)
Planning Advisory Commission / Planning Dept.(706) 653-4116 — Government Center Tower, 100 10th Street
Development Authority of Columbus"Choose Columbus" — choosecolumbusga.com

Council meeting schedule: Regular meetings of the Council of Columbus, Georgia are held at 9:00 a.m. on the second Tuesday of each month and 5:30 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of each month, at the Government Center.

Planning Advisory Commission: meets the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month.

Agendas and minutes (watch these yourself):

Statutory legal-notice source: Georgia Public Notice — https://www.georgiapublicnotice.com — searchable by county. Rezoning and ordinance notices must be published; this is where they land.

Court records (the lawsuit): Muscogee County Clerk of Superior & State Courts — https://muscogeecourts.columbusga.gov

Utilities:

Utility rate proceedings (where your bill is actually decided): Georgia Public Service Commission — https://psc.ga.gov — dockets and filings are public, and the PSC publishes a data center fact sheet.

Local news tip lines:

What to ask for, in writing, under the Georgia Open Records Act (O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70 et seq.):

  1. The executed incentive/abatement agreement between the Development Authority of Columbus and Muscogee Property 1 LLC or Habitat Real Estate Partners, including term and clawbacks.
  2. Any water-service or capacity-reservation agreement between Columbus Water Works and the project.
  3. The Georgia Power / Flint Energies load-service correspondence for the site.
  4. The full adopted text of Ordinance 26-034 plus the pre- and post-hearing versions (that difference is the subject of the lawsuit).

9. If You're Thinking About Moving Here

Research only. This is not legal, financial, real estate, or investment advice. Verify everything with the sources in §10 and your own professionals.

What is settled:

  • Columbus has adopted a county-wide legal mechanism (Ordinance 26-034) permitting 75+ acre data centers on rural and agricultural land. That law exists now.
  • One very large project is proposed, in the far northeast of the county, not in 31907.
  • Water comes from the Chattahoochee via Columbus Water Works, which is a comparatively strong position — Columbus is not a groundwater-dependent town like Albany or Valdosta.

What is unresolved:

  • The ordinance is in litigation. If plaintiffs win on the Zoning Procedures Law claims, 26-034 could be voided and the process restarted. Do not treat the current zoning map as final.
  • Power cost. The PSC's own advocacy staff put large-load fuel-cost spillover at 5–11% per month on other customers, and a separate fuel-allocation investigation is open. Your future bill is genuinely uncertain, and 31907 is a lower-income ZIP where a percentage increase bites hardest.
  • Wastewater. A 1960s-vintage plant being upgraded partly on the strength of one private project is a real risk if that project shrinks or leaves.
  • No named tenant. A $5B project with an undisclosed end user is, by definition, a project that can change shape.
  • Tax revenue projections are pre-depreciation. The $68.7M/year figure is not what the county will collect in year 10.

Land and housing: documented land-price pressure specific to 31907 traceable to the data center: Not found as of 2026-08-02. Any price movement so far is concentrated near the northeast site, not east Columbus.

Noise and light: not applicable to 31907 at the Ruby site's distance. If a future overlay application lands closer to east Columbus, the setback and noise provisions in 26-034 — and the fact that they were altered after the public hearing — are the first thing to read.

If you are buying: pull the parcel's zoning, check whether it or its neighbors sit on 75+ contiguous acres eligible under the overlay, and set up a Georgia Public Notice alert for Muscogee County before you close.

10. Sources

All URLs accessed 2026-08-02 unless otherwise noted.

Facility & project

Ordinance & litigation

Power & PSC

Water & drought

Demographics

Contacts & meetings

Context

Lead source: resident reports on the Brockovich AI Data Center community map, then independently verified against public records. Research, not legal, financial, real-estate, or investment advice. Some resident-reported pins remain uncorroborated and are labeled as such above.