The Athens-Clarke County Commission put a pause on new data centers Tuesday night.

The moratorium passed Tuesday night will put a pause on new data centers until early March. Opponents of data centers say they use excessive amounts of water and electricity, in addition to decreasing quality of life for neighbors.

Clarke County has one data center located on Voyles Road in East Athens, built in 2024 and owned by Southern Company. District 9 Commissioner Ovita Thornton—whose district includes the data center--said during the meeting that the moratorium was a step in the right direction.

“We never would have expected another data center trying to come here,” she said. “I think when the first one popped up, it should have set some alarms, but here we are, we have a moratorium, and we’ll mov

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