# Telfair County, Georgia: Power, Data Centers and the Local Economy Home to McRae-Helena No data center or power plant project is on record in Telfair County, but the national build-out still reaches it through its utility bill, its labor market and the projects next door. Unemployment was 4.8% in August 2026, against 9.1% in 2019. Telfair County is home to McRae-Helena and Lumber City. Employers here counted 2,120 jobs in 2025, down 20.0% from 2019. Next door, Coffee County has 1 data center. 11,195 people live here, down 10.1% since 2020. -20.0% total jobs since 2019, now 2,120 2 MW of operating power plants, mostly solar 15.49¢ per kWh for Georgia Power Co residential customers, 2024 ## Cities and towns in Telfair County Telfair County is home to McRae-Helena and Lumber City. McRae-Helena5,443 residents Lumber City944 residents Milan267 residents · 44% of the city Scotland162 residents Jacksonville107 residents - Milan also extends into [Dodge County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/georgia/dodge-county). 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 Telfair County | Measure | Then | Now | Change | Rank in Georgia | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population (2020 → 2025) | 12,449 | 11,195 | ▼ 10.1% | 119th of 159 by size | | Total jobs (2019 → 2025) | 2,650 | 2,120 | ▼ 20.0% | 155th of 159 by growth | | Average annual pay (2019 → 2025) | $33,522 | $43,800 | ▲ 30.7% | — | | Unemployment rate (2019 → August 2026) | 9.1% | 4.8% | ▼ 4.3pts | — | | Generating capacity added since 2019 | — | 0 MW | | — | | Generating capacity retired since 2019 | — | 0 MW | | — | Its power plants have 2 MW of capacity, 100% of it solar. Georgia Power Co is the largest utility serving Telfair County, one of 3 with territory here. Its residential customers paid an average 15.49¢/kWh in 2024, above the 13.61¢ median for Georgia utilities. ## Who powers Telfair County ### Utilities with service territory in Telfair 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% | | Ocmulgee Electric Member Corp | — | — | — | — | — | | Little Ocmulgee El Member Corp | — | — | — | — | — | 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 | |---|---|---| | Solar | 2 MW | 100% | | Largest plants | Owner | Technology | MW | Since | |---|---|---|---|---| | Telfair Thompson | Westbound Solar LLC | Solar | 2 MW | 2018 | ## The Telfair County labor market | Industry (2025) | Jobs | Average pay | Concentration vs U.S. | |---|---|---|---| | All industries | 2,120 | $43,800 | 1.00 | | Construction | 91 | $78,106 | 0.81 | 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 Telfair County No data center, local measure or delayed project is on record in Telfair County. Georgia has 60 local measures on record statewide. ## Telfair County and its neighbors Of the 6 counties that border Telfair County, Wilcox 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 | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Telfair County | 11,195 | ▼ 20.0% | 2 MW | — | — | — | | Ben Hill County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/georgia/ben-hill-county) | 17,099 | ▲ 3.9% | — | — | — | — | | Coffee County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/georgia/coffee-county) | 44,407 | ● 0.0% | — | — | 1 | — | | Dodge County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/georgia/dodge-county) | 19,663 | ▼ 0.3% | — | — | — | — | | Jeff Davis County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/georgia/jeff-davis-county) | 15,219 | ▲ 2.8% | 412 MW | — | — | — | | Wheeler County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/georgia/wheeler-county) | 7,570 | ▼ 3.5% | — | 80 MW | — | — | | Wilcox County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/georgia/wilcox-county) | 8,797 | ▲ 8.7% | 80 MW | 140 MW | — | — | ## More of Georgia [All Georgia countiesThe state power page and county mapOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/georgia)[Coffee County44,407 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/georgia/coffee-county)[Dodge County19,663 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/georgia/dodge-county)[Ben Hill County17,099 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/georgia/ben-hill-county)[Jeff Davis County15,219 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/georgia/jeff-davis-county)[Wilcox County8,797 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/georgia/wilcox-county) ## Telfair County, answered from the record ### Who provides electricity in Telfair County, Georgia? 3 utilities have service territory in Telfair County in the EIA-861 2024 report: Georgia Power Co, Ocmulgee Electric Member Corp, Little Ocmulgee El Member Corp. The largest, Georgia Power Co, charged residential customers 15.49¢/kWh on average in 2024. ### What power plants are in Telfair County? 1 operating plant with 2 MW of capacity. The largest is Telfair Thompson (2 MW, solar). ### Are there data centers in Telfair County? The SAVRN Data Center Map has no data center in Telfair County. The nearest activity on record is next door in Coffee County. ### Is Telfair County adding jobs? Employers counted 2,120 jobs in 2025 against 2,650 in 2019 (-20.0%, BLS QCEW). ### Does Telfair County have a data center moratorium? No county-level measure is on record for Telfair County. Georgia has 60 local measures statewide, listed on the state page. --- Canonical: https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/georgia/telfair-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/).