Happy Friday, Atlanta!

☀️ Today's weather: Sunny, with a high of 78 and a low of 57.

🎂 Happy birthday to our member Annemette Tanderup and early birthday wishes to members Adrianne Proeller and Melissa Libby!

Today’s newsletter is 966 words — a 3.5-minute read.

Georgia is expected to have roughly 60 large data centers by the end of 2026, with nearly twice as many planned for the years ahead.

Why it matters: The 119 data centers planned for later years would increase Georgia's 3,906 MW capacity by 287%, according to records analyzed by market intelligence company Cleanview.

State of play: Data centers face increasing local resistance across Georgia over concerns about water and energy use and community impacts as the midterm elections draw near.

• Residents in Effingham County have organized to oppose a proposed incentives deal with OpenAI to build a $20 billion data center.

Yes, but: Data center developers are pushing back, too: Shadowbox Studios, a film production facility that wants to develop a data center on property once slated for a studio expansion, is suing DeKalb County over its moratorium on new developments.

Zoom in: The issue has become a flashpoint in the governor's race, with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms calling for a statewide pause on new developments.

• Republican nominee Rick Jackson says local communities should have the final say on whether projects are built.

By the numbers: Running at two-thirds capacity — typical for a data center — the average new data center uses enough energy to power 54,000 homes, according to Cleanview.

Reality check: It's unlikely the more than 3,000 data centers on Cleanview's national list will come to fruition.

• Forty-five projects on Cleanview's complete list have been canceled. About 450 don't have a completion date.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping said Thursday during a visit with President Trump that China will send two pandas to Zoo Atlanta, calling them an "envoy of friendship."

Why it matters: The fuzzy ambassadors have long been one of China's most beloved tools of soft power and could signal an attempt to cool tensions in U.S.–China relations.

Zoom in: China typically loans pandas abroad for set terms as a sign of goodwill, and these pandas would be the first at Zoo Atlanta since its previous pandas returned to China in 2024.

Reality check: Zoo Atlanta confirmed to Axios on Thursday that the pandas Xi mentioned are the same ones the zoo and the China Wildlife Conservation Association announced in April.

• Male Ping Ping and female Fu Shuang are both from China's Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.

Zoom out: China has also used its pandas as a cudgel when foreign relationships turn frosty.

• Pandas living at the National Zoo in D.C. returned to China in 2023 when their agreement expired, as Washington and Beijing butted heads over security, economic and humanitarian issues. Two new pandas returned a year later under a new agreement.

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DeMicha Luster has lived in Atlanta's Mechanicsville neighborhood for more than a decade, serving in nearly every capacity in its civic association and running a nonprofit that works to reduce gun violence in the community.

• "We're proud of our neighborhood despite the challenges that we experience," she told Axios. "We have a very long history."

Why it matters: It's that history that Luster and other preservationists want to see protected as they push to get Mechanicsville listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The big picture: Mechanicsville is one of Atlanta's oldest neighborhoods, developing adjacent to its central business district in the late 19th and early 20th centuries before the Interstate Highway System plowed through the area.

The latest: The application to the State Historic Preservation Office to nominate Mechanicsville for the National Register was submitted in November 2024 but was rejected.

• It was appealed to the Keeper of the National Register in August 2025, and it was rejected a month later.

What they're saying: David Y. Mitchell, executive director of the Atlanta Preservation Center, told Axios that Mechanicsville's inclusion on the national register would acknowledge "that this space is part of the local story" of Atlanta.

What we're watching: U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock's office has reached out to the Department of Interior about the application but has not heard back, while Rep. Nikema Williams' office has met with local advocates and is monitoring the application's progress, two people familiar with the matter told Axios.

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Leaf-peepers, mark your calendars and book your campsite: Fall color is expected across most of the country by mid-October, according to a map on Explore Fall.

Zoom in: Peak foliage is expected to sweep the South over the next several weeks and hit peak around Thanksgiving.

Yes, but: Weather could scramble the timetable.

• A strong El Niño could raise temperatures and delay some peak colors, according to The National Weather Service.
• Drought conditions — which persist in parts of Maine and the Upper Midwest, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor — could also mute colors.

😯 Georgia Career Institute, a cosmetology school that's been operating for nearly 40 years, informed its students and staff that it's last day will be on Thursday, Oct. 1. (WSB)

🌳 The Georgia Department of Natural Resources and Cherokee and Bartow counties will buy the former Pine Log Wildlife Management Area and turn it into a conservation site. (AJC)

🗳️ An investigation is underway to determine if a candidate for the Georgia House of Representatives voted in primaries in this state and Nevada this year. (CBS)

• The Secretary of State's Office did not release the name of the candidate or the district in which they are running.

🧗🏽‍♀️ Kristal hopes she can squeeze in a top-rope climbing session later today.

🍁 Thomas is all about that autumn color palette. Bring it.

This newsletter was edited by Crystal Hill.