Major AI players (Google, Meta, OpenAI, Microsoft, Amazon) are actively scouting Port Wentworth for new data centers, signaling real GPU and cloud buildout interest in this region.
The city council rushed through a 4-1 vote to add data centers as an allowable use in its zoning ordinance, despite a packed room of angry residents.
The new rules open up a Highway 21 industrial park across from the Rice Hope residential community as a likely data center site, raising land-use and buffer concerns.
Residents worry about noise, traffic, and quality-of-life impacts, but the ordinance still moved forward, showing how local politics are bending toward hyperscaler demands.
For operators, this location offers access to industrial land and regional power, but also carries clear community-relations and permitting risk.
For AI infrastructure planning, Port Wentworth now looks like another emerging Southeast cluster where power, water, and neighborhood pushback will define how fast GPU capacity actually lands.
The full piece is worth reading for the local zoning details and community reaction that will shape real-world deployment timelines.
Source: Port Wentworth rushes data center ordinance despite residents’ concerns
