Microsoft Fairwater Atlanta · Fayetteville, GA

Last change recorded 2026-10-04 · Last checked 2026-10-04

OwnerMicrosoft

UsersOpenAI, Microsoft

IT power, end of 2026636 MW

Planned end state636 MW

First power2025-10-14

Build-out completeno further build-out tracked

Power pathGrid supply

Binding stepNo data yet

First power vs announcedNo announced date on record

Full build-out vs announcedNo announced date on record

Utility / power partnersGeorgia Power

Community opposition

Latest: Fayetteville data-center prohibition takes effect · Permits in hand · 2026-03-01 · recorded 2026-10-04

Second Fairwater site, Fayetteville GA: first building online 2025-10-14 with about 340 MW IT, planned to more than double by the end of 2026 on a campus Georgia Power describes as just under 1,500 MW. Grid-only design without UPS or generator sets. The city rezoned 313 acres for a QTS East campus in December 2025, then a municipal data-center prohibition took effect in March 2026. · source ◐ secondary, confidence medium

Recorded readiness — 2 of 5 applicable milestones have a dated public record

● Land 2025-12● Permits 2026-03○ Grid supply· Generation○ Water· Financing○ Construction

Gate to first power — target 2025-10-14 (estimate) · path: Grid supply · each step must finish its lead time before the target

0 of 0 required steps have a public date. Red = recorded date past the rule-based deadline · grey "no public date" = required step without a record · green = on record in time · context steps never colour.

	Step	Must finish by	Others did it	Known date	Status	Basis
	Site secured (context)	2024-07-14 (15 mo before)	13 mo before (n=26)	2025-12-01	context	QTS East campus rezoned (313 acres) · ◐
	Permits in hand (context)	2025-10-14 (0 mo before)	4 mo after (n=8)	2026-03-01	context	Fayetteville data-center prohibition takes effect · ◐

This site is energized; lights only show how its recorded steps compared with the lead times.

Lead-time assumptions

Site secured 15 months before first power — Land under control and campus announced. Rarely binding; shown for context.
Permits in hand 0 months before first power — Final air and siting permits. Operators often energize on standard or temporary authorisations and receive the major permit later; flagged only when the permit lands more than 6 months after first power or is missing for an on-site plant.
Grid supply agreed 9 months before first power — Interconnection or large-load agreement approved. Observed median 7 months before first power; the physical works (substation, lines) run in parallel with construction.
Substation and lines energized 2 months before first power — Utility delivery point live; final tests before the load is taken.
New generation online 1 months before first power — Utility plant or on-site plant generating; needed just before energization when the grid cannot carry the load alone.
Major equipment on site 6 months before first power — Turbines, transformers, switchgear delivered; installation and commissioning take the remaining months.
Construction started 24 months before first power — Groundbreaking of the building that gives first power. Observed 4-26 months for recent AI campuses; Meta's redesigned campuses took 35-58.
Building ready for IT 0 months before first power — First building ready for IT. 'Complete' or 'opened' is usually reported after first power; flagged only beyond 3 months.
Full build-out complete -12 months before first power — All announced buildings operational. Comes after first power by design; context only.
Water supply secured 12 months before first power — Water rights, municipal agreement or desalination contract in hand. Context only; one of the feasibility items.
Financing closed 12 months before first power — Project financing, anchor lease or committed capital announced. Context only; not applicable when the owner is a hyperscaler building on its balance sheet.

Dated steps (from the sources; later dates are plans)

2025-10-14 First powerFirst building online (about 340 MW IT) · ◐

2025-12-01 Site securedQTS East campus rezoned (313 acres) · ◐

2026-03-01 Permits in handFayetteville data-center prohibition takes effect · ◐

Build-out timeline (Epoch AI; dated status notes with IT power; rows after today are estimates)

2023-04-09—Land clearing begins for southern part (Building 1-2)

2025-10-14321 MWBuilding 1 and 2 are [operational](https://news.microsoft.com/source/features/ai/from-wisconsin-to-atlanta-microsoft-connects-datacenters-to-build-its-first-ai-superfactory/). Building 1 looked operational sooner, but th

2026-02-13321 MWBuilding 4 roof is complete and all mechanical equipment appears to be installed. However, there is still a lot of construction activity around the building.

2026-05-15321 MWBuilding 4 still has some equipment strewn around the perimeter, so we think it is still going through commissioning. Two new buildings at the campus have shells underway, but we don't know if Microsoft is the tenant for

2026-06-14636 MWBuilding 3 and 4 are operational.

Recorded fact The site is energized.

Calculated requirement Energized; watch the build-out timeline for the next buildings.

Sources (Epoch AI selection): 2023 Air Permit application · YouTube video with aerial views · OpenAI article mentioning they use Microsoft's Fairwater supercomputers · Bloomberg article

Epoch AI, 'AI data centers', epoch.ai/data/ai-data-centers (CC BY 4.0); coordinates from GeoNames cities500 (CC BY 4.0) and hand-entered places; overrides in tools/project_overrides.csv with their own sources. Campuses outside the Epoch dataset come from tools/campuses.csv (public reporting, source per row). Data retrieved 2026-10-05. Report a correction to contact@ailoadmap.com (campus id microsoft-fairwater-atlanta; include the row and a source link).