A.M. ATL: Power hour

Morning, y’all! For the last few weeks, a pair of baby goldfinches has been learning how to eat from our bird feeders. They’re precious little things, but man, they can chatter and make kvetchy little bird noises for hours with no reprieve. It’s almost impressive. Meanwhile, their poor parents are just trying to teach them how not to starve. It seems parenthood is the same in every species.

Let’s get to it.

ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS SUE OVER DATA CENTER

Protesters gathered outside an OpenAI data center open house in Effingham County in July. (Adam Van Brimmer/AJC)

OpenAI has tried to sweeten the public on its plan for a massive data center outside of Savannah. It’s … not working.

The Southern Environmental Law Center, a large environment watchdog, just filed a lawsuit alleging the OpenAI deal violated Georgia sunshine laws that guarantee public access to government meetings and records.

• This echoes public outcry after the deal was announced in late August. Residents said they had no warning of the data center plans.
• In fact, the events that led to OpenAI’s presence in Georgia were so secretive local officials are under nondisclosure agreements that legally prohibit them from talking about it.
• The suit was filed on behalf of Georgia environmentalist group One Hundred Miles and five residents of Effingham County, where the data center is planned.
• This is the second lawsuit filed against the data center this month. The other, filed on behalf of another group of local residents, alleges elected officials improperly changed zoning laws to allow data centers.

🔎 READ MORE: U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock has advocated for angry residents

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IN RELATED NEWS …

Georgia Power wants to upgrade two of its older reactors at Plant Vogtle, near Augusta, and two at Plant Hatch, west of Savannah. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

Georgia Power has found a magnanimous new benefactor. It’s Google!

The tech giant has agreed to pay a premium for new electricity coming from planned upgrades to two of the utility’s nuclear reactors.

• The companies say the agreement will ease the cost of those improvements for other customers. (Because remember, customers like you often end up footing the bill for such improvements. Aren’t they kind to lessen that burden?)
• Google is a major data center operator. Georgia Power is already expanding the power grid at an unprecedented rate to serve data centers. Most of that new power comes from natural gas-burning units, which will produce greenhouse gas emissions.
• However, in the nationwide data center race, nuclear power expansion is becoming an enticing alternative.

🔎 READ MORE: More about the reactors and the upgrades

CHURCHES, LAWMAKERS PRESS KEMP ON TROOP DEPLOYMENT

More than 500 members of the Georgia National Guard are still deployed in Washington, D.C., more than a year after they were sent to respond to what President Donald Trump called a “crime emergency” in the city.

• This week, a coalition of churches, advocacy groups and Democratic lawmakers sent a letter pressing Gov. Brian Kemp for answers on how long the deployment will last.
• They also want to know what the state plans to do if there’s an emergency in the meantime.

Here’s an excerpt:

“Keeping hundreds of Georgia citizen-soldiers on an extended domestic policing mission hundreds of miles from home reduces resources available to our communities, commits taxpayer dollars to an expensive federal operation, and involves our state in establishing troubling precedents for military involvement in civilian policing and elections.”

• Kemp hasn’t said whether he plans to keep Georgia troops there through the end of his term.

🔎 READ MORE: The group also sent letters to Bottoms and Jackson

MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS

⚖️ Rick Jackson has dropped two campaign lawsuits he filed against Lt. Gov. Burt Jones during their bitter GOP primary fight. It’s an olive branch in Jackson’s quest to unite Georgia Republicans before the midterm. (Jones still has a pending lawsuit against Jackson, by the way.)

🛞 Italian tiremaker Pirelli will expand its operations in Rome — Georgia, that is. The investment will lead to 1,000 new jobs over the next few years, nearly quintupling the company’s Georgia workforce.

HOW GEORGIA COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES RANK

Spelman College's graduation rate is the highest among historically Black colleges and universities. (Miguel Martinez/AJC)

Universities across Georgia almost certainly had Tuesday circled on their annual calendar, as they eagerly awaited, or perhaps dreaded, the annual release of the U.S. News Best Colleges rankings.

Just how useful the rankings are in determining the quality of a college is up for debate, the AJC’s Jason Armesto writes. Some question U.S. News’ methodology and argue colleges can game the system to increase their metrics and obtain a higher ranking.

Regardless, schools, students and parents still value the list. Highly rated universities often tout their accomplishment in press releases and marketing materials. With an expected “enrollment cliff” spurred by declining birthrates, it can help them compete for a shrinking pool of college-age students.

🎓 READ MORE: Five takeaways from the latest U.S. News rankings for Georgia colleges and universities

One more note: Spelman College continued its reign. For the 20th consecutive year, it remains the top-ranked historically Black college in the nation.

In a column for the AJC, Spelman College’s president wrote this week about what the ranking shows about the school’s efforts to help students become leaders in STEM, the arts and other fields.

NEWS BITES

11 can’t-miss fall festivals around Atlanta

[pumpkin spice intensifies]

Could mixed martial arts be in the Olympics? It’s a long shot.