Data center construction and commissioning teams in Atlanta

CBRE counted 2,882 MW under construction in Atlanta in H1 2026, ahead of Northern Virginia’s 2,420.2 MW, after a pipeline that “surged by 52.3% year-over-year” (North America Data Center Trends H1 2026, August 27, 2026). That made Atlanta the most active construction market in North America for the first time.

Cushman & Wakefield measures the market differently and puts it at 1,715 MW under construction, with precommitment that “rose from 94% to 99%” (Americas Data Center Update H1 2026, September 14, 2026). The two publishers count different things, so each figure is quoted with its source.

Land deals are spread around the metro. Between January and April 2026, Cushman & Wakefield records CyrusOne buying 326 acres in Palmetto for $60.0M and Equinix 142 acres in Hampton for $64.3M (Americas Data Center Update H1 2026, September 14, 2026). The same update of September 14, 2026, records Digital Realty buying 875 acres in Taylorsville for $95.0M and Stream Data Centers 258 acres in Winston for $65.0M.

Coweta County has two large campus proposals: Project Sail, a “$17 billion campus” pitched by Atlas Development LLC, and Project Peach, a 320-acre “$1 billion data center campus” on Johnston Circle whose rezoning was approved on a 3-2 vote (GovTech, from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 8, 2025).

In January 2025 the Georgia Public Service Commission unanimously approved a rule for new large-load customers “using more than 100 megawatts” (Capitol Beat, January 23, 2025). Under it, data centers pay transmission and distribution costs as construction progresses, and new large-load contracts go to the PSC for review.

On December 19, 2025, the PSC unanimously approved Georgia Power’s plan to add “nearly 9,885 MW of new generation capacity”, about two-thirds of it gas-fired (Ashurst Perkins Coie, January 5, 2026). Cushman & Wakefield notes that Georgia Power’s Project Wansley Transmission initiative “has generated opposition from landowners” (Americas Data Center Update H1 2026, September 14, 2026).

Counties are pushing back. Douglas County adopted a 90-day data center moratorium in March 2025, and Coweta County followed with a 180-day moratorium as the “second Atlanta area government” to pause data centers (GovTech, from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 8, 2025). Cushman & Wakefield says “several counties have either considered or enacted moratoriums, zoning revisions or additional development requirements” (Americas Data Center Update H1 2026, September 14, 2026).

The state sales tax exemption survived a 2026 repeal effort when “the House declined to include the data center sales tax exemption” in the tax package; a state audit estimated $474 million of sales tax forgone in 2025 (Bloomberg Law, April 3, 2026).

AWS is advertising commissioning, engineering and construction roles across the metro (amazon.jobs, read October 11, 2026). They include Commissioning Engineer roles in Atlanta, senior data center electrical and mechanical engineers based in Atlanta, and a DC Construction Manager in Douglasville, each with a published base salary range in the table below.

Meta lists Newton County among the locations for a Construction Manager, Data Center Project Development (Meta careers, read October 11, 2026). Microsoft lists a Critical Environment Mechanical Engineer across Atlanta, Fayetteville, Milledgeville, Cartersville, East Point, Lithia Springs and Palmetto, and a Data Center Program Manager in Fayetteville (Microsoft careers, read October 11, 2026). Its published ranges are US-wide, so those roles are not in the local table.

Critical facilities training is available locally. Per Scholas Atlanta lists a Critical Facilities Technician course with its next start on November 16, 2026, and a Data Center Technician with AI Tools course starting December 7, 2026, and its Atlanta courses run 12 to 16 weeks full-time (Per Scholas, read October 11, 2026).

Microsoft hires from that pipeline directly. Its Critical Environment Ops Tech “Per Scholas” posting for Atlanta, Lithia Springs, Palmetto and East Point requires “Completion of, or current enrollment in, the Critical Environment Academy critical facilities training program (Per Scholas)” (Microsoft careers, posted October 1, 2026).