OpenAI has committed to an ambitious $750 billion investment in infrastructure by 2030, a figure representing a 25% increase over its prior estimates this year, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. This significant escalation in expenditure occurs amidst reports of its "Stargate" data center project encountering delays.
Kicking off this substantial investment, OpenAI plans to establish a $20 billion data center campus in Georgia, dubbed Project Camellia. This expansive development will occupy 1,400 acres northwest of Savannah and is projected to consume a minimum of 3.2 gigawatts of power from Georgia Power, the local utility. The required generating capacity is anticipated to be operational between 2028 and 2032.
OpenAI has stated its commitment to "pay the full cost of the infrastructure and electric-service costs" for the new facility. This aligns with a rule adopted last year by the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC), which aims to prevent utilities from transferring costs associated with new users consuming over 100 megawatts to existing customers.
Furthermore, Georgia Power indicated that OpenAI has agreed to curtail its power consumption by up to 1 gigawatt during periods of high demand on the electrical grid.
In a related development, Effingham County is granting OpenAI a 50% property tax abatement for a duration of 15 years, as reported by the Effingham Herald.
Neither OpenAI nor Georgia Power has disclosed the specific energy sources that will power Project Camellia. Inquiries from TechCrunch seeking further details from both companies did not yield an immediate response.
However, regulatory filings offer insights into potential power generation strategies. Last December, Georgia Power secured approval from the PSC to generate an additional 9,885 megawatts. The utility informed the PSC that it anticipates having all this new capacity under contract by the close of 2026, with the OpenAI agreement representing approximately one-third of this total.
According to documents filed by Georgia Power with the PSC, the majority of this new capacity is slated to originate from natural gas sources. The utility plans to either construct or procure from third parties approximately 5.8 gigawatts of natural gas generating capacity, with about a quarter of this expected to come from more emissive simple-cycle turbines. This expansion in fossil fuel capacity will effectively more than double Georgia Power’s existing natural gas fleet. The remaining portion of the new capacity will be supplied by grid-scale batteries and solar energy.
While electricity from Georgia Power is anticipated to commence flowing in 2028, OpenAI has not yet provided a specific timeline for the activation of the first GPUs within the facility. This operational start could potentially occur earlier than 2028, especially considering OpenAI's recent recruitment of Brett Mayo to head its data center construction efforts. Mayo previously held a leadership role at xAI, where he supervised the development of the Colossus data center in Memphis.
Although the Colossus data center was constructed with remarkable speed, it has reportedly led to adverse effects on local air quality, as detailed in a lawsuit filed by the NAACP and the Southern Environmental Law Center. The xAI facility is alleged to be operating dozens of natural gas turbines without proper permits, asserting an exemption from federal clean air regulations.
The Editorial Staff at AIChief is a team of professional content writers with extensive experience in AI and marketing. Founded in 2025, AIChief has quickly grown into the largest free AI resource hub in the industry.