# Hart County, Georgia: Power, Data Centers and the Local Economy Home to Hartwell Hart County is one of the places pushing back on the data center build-out. Construction employs 381, up 46.0% since 2019. Hart County is home to Hartwell and part of Royston (673 of its 2,693 residents). The Moratorium Tracker holds 1 local measure here (1 in force); the latest is “County moratorium on data centers”. Employers here counted 8,261 jobs in 2025, up 24.2% from 2019 (the 8th fastest growth of 159 Georgia counties). Its power plants have 780 MW of capacity, 54% of it hydro. +24.2% total jobs since 2019, now 8,261 780 MW of operating power plants, mostly hydro 15.49¢ per kWh for Georgia Power Co residential customers, 2024 ## Cities and towns in Hart County Hart County is home to Hartwell and part of Royston (673 of its 2,693 residents). Hartwell4,914 residents Royston673 residents · 25% of the city Bowersville427 residents - Royston also extends into [Franklin County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/georgia/franklin-county). Unincorporated communities (governed by the county): Eagle Grove, Reed Creek. Residents are 2025 Census estimates for the part of each city, town or township inside this county. Census publishes no annual estimate for unincorporated communities. ## What changed in Hart County | Measure | Then | Now | Change | Rank in Georgia | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population (2020 → 2025) | 25,872 | 28,639 | ▲ 10.7% | 69th of 159 by size | | Total jobs (2019 → 2025) | 6,651 | 8,261 | ▲ 24.2% | 8th of 159 by growth | | Average annual pay (2019 → 2025) | $37,211 | $52,479 | ▲ 41.0% | — | | Construction jobs (2019 → 2025) | 261 | 381 | ▲ 46.0% | 34th of 97 by growth | | Unemployment rate (2019 → August 2026) | 3.9% | 3.4% | ▼ 0.5pts | — | | Generating capacity added since 2019 | — | 0 MW | | — | | Generating capacity retired since 2019 | — | 0 MW | | — | 28,639 people live here, up 10.7% since 2020. Unemployment was 3.4% in August 2026, against 3.9% in 2019. Georgia Power Co is the largest utility serving Hart County, one of 2 with territory here. Its residential customers paid an average 15.49¢/kWh in 2024, above the 13.61¢ median for Georgia utilities. ## Who powers Hart County ### Utilities with service territory in Hart County | Utility | Ownership | Service | Residential customers (systemwide) | Residential price, 2024 | Commercial share of sales | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Georgia Power Co | Investor Owned | Bundled | 2,452,488 | 15.49¢ | 39% | | Hart Electric Member Corp | Cooperative | Bundled | 30,297 | 13.15¢ | 31% | Customer counts, prices and sales shares cover each utility's whole system in the state, not only this county. Commercial sales include data centers. ### Operating power plants | Technology | Capacity | Share | |---|---|---| | Hydro | 420 MW | 54% | | Natural gas | 360 MW | 46% | | Largest plants | Owner | Technology | MW | Since | |---|---|---|---|---| | Hartwell Lake | USCE-Savannah District | Hydro | 420 MW | 1962 | | Hartwell Energy Facility | Oglethorpe Power Corporation | Natural gas | 360 MW | 1994 | ## The Hart County labor market | Industry (2025) | Jobs | Average pay | Concentration vs U.S. | |---|---|---|---| | All industries | 8,261 | $52,479 | 1.00 | | Construction | 381 | $57,218 | 0.87 | Concentration is the BLS location quotient: 1.0 means the industry holds the same share of local jobs as it does nationally. Industry rows count private employers; cells BLS suppresses are left out. ## Data centers and local rules in Hart County ### Local measures | Measure | Status | Date | |---|---|---| | County moratorium on data centers | In force | 2026-01 | ## Hart County and its neighbors Of the 5 counties that border Hart County, Oconee County carries the most build-out activity: data centers, planned generation and operating plants combined. [[[[[ | County | Population | Jobs since 2019 | Operating MW | Planned MW | Data centers | Local measures | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Hart County | 28,639 | ▲ 24.2% | 780 MW | — | — | 1 | | Anderson County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/south-carolina/anderson-county) SC | 219,930 | ▲ 9.3% | 2,133 MW | — | 1 | 1 | | Elbert County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/georgia/elbert-county) | 20,072 | ▲ 3.6% | 668 MW | — | — | — | | Franklin County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/georgia/franklin-county) | 25,948 | ▲ 3.1% | 61 MW | — | — | 1 | | Madison County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/georgia/madison-county) | 32,919 | ▲ 22.3% | 60 MW | — | — | 1 | | Oconee County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/south-carolina/oconee-county) SC | 83,775 | ▲ 6.7% | 4,360 MW | — | — | — | ## More of Georgia [All Georgia countiesThe state power page and county mapOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/georgia)[Madison County32,919 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/georgia/madison-county)[Franklin County25,948 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/georgia/franklin-county)[Elbert County20,072 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/georgia/elbert-county) ## Hart County, answered from the record ### Who provides electricity in Hart County, Georgia? 2 utilities have service territory in Hart County in the EIA-861 2024 report: Georgia Power Co, Hart Electric Member Corp. The largest, Georgia Power Co, charged residential customers 15.49¢/kWh on average in 2024. ### What power plants are in Hart County? 2 operating plants with 780 MW of capacity. The largest is Hartwell Lake (420 MW, hydro). ### Are there data centers in Hart County? The SAVRN Data Center Map has no data center in Hart County. The nearest activity on record is next door in Anderson County. ### Is Hart County adding jobs? Employers counted 8,261 jobs in 2025 against 6,651 in 2019 (+24.2%, BLS QCEW). Construction went from 261 to 381. ### Does Hart County have a data center moratorium? The SAVRN Moratorium Tracker holds 1 local measure for Hart County, 1 in force. --- Canonical: https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/georgia/hart-county Updated: 2026-10-08. Refreshed weekly by SAVRN from EIA, BLS, BEA, Census and the SAVRN trackers. License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).