Effingham County delays vote on OpenAI data center site plan

SPRINGFIELD, Ga. (WTOC) - A crowded room of Effingham County residents and local leaders gathered on Election night expecting a vote on OpenAI’s proposed AI data center campus. Instead, commissioners pushed pause.The Effingham County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to postpone a decision on the site plan for “Project Camellia”, following sharp exchanges between commissioners and developers over residential protections, earthen berms, and environmental impacts.Before commissioners began their debate, residents lined up at the microphone during the public hearing portion of the meeting, expressing continued frustration over a perceived lack of transparency surrounding the project.“Until y’all start being transparent, until y’all can start answering some questions, I’m going to be up here each and every week,” one person told the board.Revised Site Plans and Project ReductionsDuring the meeting, Rich Modliszewski, a representative for project developer Octans GA LLC, presented an upd