SUMTER FIELD DESK
The missing application
What is proposed?
Short answer
The project is planned as a 400 MW IT load across four buildings, but not enough engineering information has been made public to calculate its environmental footprint.
What is documented: the signed development agreement of July 1, 2026 identifies the developer as Liberty GA USA LLC, the site as about 102 acres on Swett Avenue (tax parcel 64-17), and the buildout as four phases running through December 2033, with a "Data Center Campus" defined as approximately 400,000 square feet or more of gross floor area.
What that document does not contain: a megawatt figure, water-demand figure, decibel limit, generator schedule or utility will-serve letter. A separate, unexecuted purchase agreement identifies Phase 1 as 100 MW, and the September 8 community presentation identifies the four-building plan as a 400 MW IT load.
What the developer has drawn
This is the only project image found in the available documents. It shows the agreement's four phases and an on-site substation. As a marketing rendering, it provides no dimensions, elevations or acreage that can be compared with the 59% of the tract delineated as wetland.
What an approval would cover
A land-use approval can authorize a category of development long before the operator selects equipment. If the approval does not define full buildout, later phases may be much larger than the version discussed at the first meeting.
The enforceable project description should include:
| Needed fact | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Legal applicant, landowner, operator, and tenant | Establishes who is responsible. Tony and Paul Di Benedetto, of Toronto, have now answered for Liberty in person; no filing naming the company's officers has been located |
| Every phase and building | Prevents impacts from being reviewed one slice at a time |
| IT load and total meter load | Drives heat, power, and backup generation |
| Final heat-rejection design | Determines whether cooling is dry, wet, or hybrid |
| Average-day and peak-day water demand | Tests ordinary and drought capacity |
| Generator inventory and operating hours | Distinguishes backup equipment from a power plant |
| Utility will-serve letters | Shows whether water, sewer, power, and gas capacity exist |
Do not confuse these quantities
- Land size describes where a project sits, not what it consumes.
- IT megawatts power servers.
- Total facility megawatts include cooling, pumps, lighting, and conversion losses.
- Installed generator megawatts may exceed normal demand because of redundancy.
- Plant capacity is not the same as a legal withdrawal limit or dependable supply.
Safe public statement
The available public information is insufficient to predict this project's water use, noise, emissions, or electricity demand. Those impacts depend on full-buildout load, cooling design, utility commitments, and generator operation, all of which should be disclosed before approval.
The published planning figure is 400 MW of IT load. The additional power required for cooling, pumps, lighting and conversion losses remains undocumented.
Records to obtain first
- Application, concept plan, staff report, and draft ordinance
- Parcel and ownership records
- Development and tax agreements. The economic development agreement is now in hand; the purchase and sale agreement it references, and any tax abatement or bond agreement, are not
- Water, sewer, electric, and gas will-serve letters
- Full-buildout power and water schedules
- Cooling schematic and equipment list
- Generator and fuel inventory
- Environmental, stormwater, traffic, fire, and acoustic studies
Each of these sits with an identifiable custodian and can be requested in writing under the Georgia Open Records Act. See how to obtain the records and reach the officials, and the contact page for the same roster with each official's published e-mail address.