DeKALB — On Monday, DeKalb residents gathered in the Yusunas Meeting Room of the DeKalb Public Library as the Edged DeKalb Data Center sought official approval from the City Council for further development of Project Vector.
The data center project was proposed on 560 acres of land in DeKalb county. The data center was revealed to be constructed by “Edged”, and it plans to include six buildings with four data center campus buildings and two electrical substations.
After nearly three hours of discussion including a presentation on studies addressing concerns, such as the noise and light pollution, the DeKalb City Council unanimously approved the project.
Many residents took the opportunity to voice their opinions on the project prior to the approval. One angered attendee stormed off in frustration calling the project a “joke.”
Kathy Stelford, founder of Oaken Acres Wildlife Center and Tails Humane Society, held up a photo of a bald eagle and claimed that we can not forget about the wildlife this project could be impacting.
“I know I can’t change progress,” Stelford said. “I always wanted to at least be a voice for wildlife and tell you these are your neighbors too.”
Megan Renwick, a supervisor at Oaken Acres Wildlife Center, explained the center has seen a 40% increase in admitted patients since 2020.
“When we look at the circumstances of emission, about 90% to 95% is due to human cause,” Renwick said. “That means of the 850 animals emitted to Oaken Acres from DeKalb County alone, 750 to 800 are brought in for human causes.”
Renwick said in 2020, Oaken Acres took in about 1,300 animals. In 2025, that number increased to 2,000.
Michelle McGill, a resident of DeKalb, claimed she is not fully against the data center, but is still concerned about the environmental impacts.
“I don’t oppose the project entirely, I just think it’s poorly placed next to a residential area,” McGill said. “Our neighborhoods have to endure the noise, lights and traffic because of the data center.
Mayor Cohen Barnes helped explain that data centers aren’t new to DeKalb.
“They’re concerned we haven’t done our research, or we don’t know and this is new. To me, it’s not,” Barnes said. “We already have Meta, we have a data center. I heard some of the concerns early on with that project, and now look at what Meta has brought to the community.”
Fifth Alderman Ward Ander Powell said the people behind this project did well in addressing community concerns, such as the amount of water the data center would use and the amount of electricity it would take for the data center to run.
“I think you guys did your best to accommodate what runs people off with data centers, which is water and electricity. And for that reason, I support,” Powell said.
The first building of Project Vector is set to be completed by 2027, with the entirety of the project set to be completed in 2032.
