An ongoing public investigation into the proposed Masterworks Atlanta data center at the Dade County Industrial Park, near Trenton, Georgia.
Prepared November 6, 2026 | Rob Rush [Ruszkowski] | RushCongress.com
Dade County, Georgia, is a small mountain community known for its natural beauty, rural landscape, outdoor recreation, and proximity to Lookout Mountain and Cloudland Canyon State Park.
According to preliminary information discussed at the November 5, 2026, Dade County Board of Commissioners meeting, Masterworks Atlanta is considering a data center development with an electrical capacity of approximately 300 megawatts.
A representative reportedly described approximately 50 acres of buildings. The full development footprint, number of buildings, building heights, cooling technology, electrical infrastructure, and precise property boundaries have not yet been independently verified.
These are critical details.
A 300-megawatt development is not an ordinary commercial building. It could require major electrical infrastructure, substantial cooling capacity, large mechanical systems, construction traffic, and long-term industrial operations.
Before local government decisions are made, residents deserve access to the complete development proposal.
If a facility draws 300 megawatts continuously, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, its annual electricity consumption would be:
300 MW × 24 hours × 365 days = 2.628 billion kilowatt-hours annually.
Using an illustrative average household consumption of 12,000 kilowatt-hours per year, that is equivalent to the annual electricity use of approximately:
219,000 households — roughly 220,000 homes.
Dade County has approximately 16,200 residents.
That means the proposed facility's full-load electricity consumption would equal the annual electricity consumption of approximately 13.5 average households for every person living in Dade County.
This is an electricity-consumption comparison, not a claim that 220,000 homes will be connected to the site, that the facility will operate at full load continuously, or that residents will necessarily pay for that electricity.
It illustrates the magnitude of the electrical demand under discussion.
Fifty acres equals approximately 2.18 million square feet.
If the reported 50 acres refers to actual building footprints rather than total site acreage, the overall development could require considerably more land for:
For perspective:
50 acres: Approximately 2.18 million square feet.
100 acres: Approximately 4.36 million square feet.
200 acres: Approximately 8.71 million square feet.
300 acres: Approximately 13.07 million square feet.
A 300-acre development would cover approximately 0.47 square miles.
The actual acreage required for the Dade County proposal is not yet established. Estimates of 200–300 acres should be treated as possibilities requiring verification, not as approved plans.
One relevant example is the Gainesville Crossing Data Center Campus in Gainesville, Virginia.
According to its architect and development partners, this project is designed for approximately 304–306 megawatts of critical IT capacity across five buildings on approximately 123–130 acres, with a dedicated substation.
The campus includes major electrical and mechanical infrastructure, service roads, utilities, and stormwater facilities.
[PHOTO 1: Gainesville Crossing Data Center Campus, Virginia]
Caption: A real-world data center campus designed for approximately 300 MW of critical IT capacity. This is a comparison project, not the proposed Dade County design. Critical IT capacity and total facility electrical demand are not identical.
Another example is the proposed Circle T Data Center in Westlake, Texas.
Published plans describe a 300 MW campus on approximately 88 acres, with four buildings totaling about 1.2 million square feet.
[PHOTO 2: Circle T Data Center, Westlake, Texas — proposed development rendering]
Caption: A proposed 300 MW development on approximately 88 acres. A rendering represents the planned design rather than a completed facility.
These examples demonstrate how data centers of similar electrical scale can have very different building layouts and land requirements.
Neither example establishes the final size or appearance of the Dade County project.
Cloudland Canyon State Park is one of Northwest Georgia's best-known natural destinations.
Visitors come to experience its canyon landscapes, trails, waterfalls, overlooks, forests, and relative quiet.
A large industrial development near this landscape raises questions about:
Noise: Could continuously operating cooling equipment, transformers, pumps, or generators be audible from trails, overlooks, nearby residences, or park facilities?
Low-frequency sound: Would a conventional noise assessment adequately account for low-frequency humming and tonal noise?
Wildlife: Could continuous noise, lighting, construction, and habitat changes disturb sensitive species?
Water and runoff: Could land clearing, stormwater discharge, or water withdrawals affect nearby streams, groundwater, or watersheds?
None of these impacts has been quantified for this specific proposal.
That is why an independent, terrain-based environmental and acoustical assessment should be available for public review.
Lookout Mountain Flight Park is an important regional destination for hang gliding and other aerial recreation.
The location of the proposed data center relative to mountain launch areas raises questions about the visibility of industrial buildings, high-voltage lines, towers, and substations.
An accurate assessment requires the final project coordinates, structure heights, transmission-line routes, and a terrain-based viewshed analysis.
The project should also be evaluated for its possible effects on outdoor recreation, tourism-related businesses, nearby property owners, and the rural character that attracts visitors to Dade County.
The answer depends heavily on cooling technology.
Modern data centers can use dry cooling or closed-loop systems that greatly reduce direct water consumption for cooling. Other systems rely on evaporative cooling and can consume substantial amounts of water.
For illustration, a facility with a 300 MW total electrical load and approximately 250 MW of IT equipment could consume the following quantities at full load:
Very low water use (0.1 L/kWh of IT energy): Approximately 159,000 gallons daily.
Moderate water use (0.4 L/kWh): Approximately 634,000 gallons daily.
Higher water use (1.0 L/kWh): Approximately 1.59 million gallons daily.
Water-intensive cooling (1.8 L/kWh): Approximately 2.85 million gallons daily.
A properly designed dry-cooled facility could use very little ongoing water for cooling, although other water needs may remain.
These are illustrative scenarios, not water-use estimates supplied by Masterworks Atlanta.
The public needs to know the proposed cooling technology, source of water, peak daily withdrawals, annual consumption, drought contingency plans, and wastewater arrangements.
A 300 MW facility may require major investments in transmission and distribution infrastructure.
Depending on the available grid capacity, the project could involve new substations, transformers, transmission upgrades, or new power-line corridors.
Residents should know:
No verified transmission route, eminent-domain plan, or project-specific cost-allocation agreement has yet been established in this investigation.
Data centers can generate continuous mechanical and electrical sound.
Possible sources include cooling fans, chillers, pumps, transformers, ventilation systems, and periodic generator testing.
The intensity and reach of that sound depend on the specific equipment, facility design, surrounding terrain, weather, and noise-control measures.
In a mountainous valley, sound propagation should be evaluated using local terrain and atmospheric conditions rather than relying solely on generic noise estimates.
Residents should request independent baseline measurements and full-buildout predictions for nearby homes, public lands, and recreation areas.
The assessment should include nighttime noise, low-frequency measurements, tonal characteristics, generator testing, and cumulative effects from all proposed buildings.
A large data center campus can be constructed in phases, potentially involving years of heavy construction activity.
The final construction schedule has not been disclosed.
Possible concerns include road congestion, truck traffic, dust, clearing and grading, erosion, sediment runoff, blasting if required, construction noise, and effects on emergency services.
The county should obtain a detailed construction schedule and traffic-management plan before considering irreversible commitments.
Supporters of large data center projects often emphasize construction employment, investment, property taxes, and possible infrastructure improvements.
These benefits deserve careful evaluation alongside environmental and infrastructure costs.
The public should receive independent estimates distinguishing temporary construction jobs from permanent employment, gross property taxes from net revenue after incentives, and developer-funded improvements from costs potentially borne by the public.
All projected benefits should identify their assumptions and supporting evidence.
Dade County is not the only Northwest Georgia community considering data center development.
Projects and policy debates have also emerged in and around Calhoun, Dalton, Rome, and other communities.
The proposals differ in size, status, and location. They should not be described as identical or all approved.
The broader questions are nevertheless similar: land use, energy demand, water, public transparency, infrastructure costs, and protection of local communities.
Before any consequential approval, the public should be able to review:
Reported date: Monday, November 23, 2026
Reported time: 6:00 PM Eastern
Reported location: Dade County Court Facility, 255 West Crabtree Street, Trenton GA 30752
Residents should verify the final notice with Dade County government before traveling.
Dade County government: https://www.dadecounty-ga.gov/
County administration: 706-657-4625
Dade County is my home.
I care deeply about our mountains, our forests, our wildlife, our neighbors, and the natural landscape that makes this community special.
A project of this magnitude deserves the highest level of public scrutiny.
I believe our elected officials have a responsibility to provide the full facts, disclose potential costs and risks, and listen carefully to the people whose lives and property could be affected.
Residents should never have to make decisions about their community's future without knowing what is being proposed.
Get Involved - Contact Local Officials - Have your Voice Heard - www.NoDadeDataCenters.com
People Over Parties.
Rob Rush [Ruszkowski]
Independent Congressional Candidate — Georgia's 14th District
This article will be updated as additional official documents, meeting notices, site plans, and independently verified information become available.
300 MW proposal
Reported
Exact development acreage
Unverified
Detailed site plan
Not obtained
Water-use estimate
Not obtained
Transmission-line routes
Not obtained
Noise study
Not obtained
November 23 meeting venue
confirmed