Georgia Trend Daily – Aug. 17, 2026
Aug. 17, 2026 WSB TV
University System of Georgia generates record $25.1 billion economic impact
Staff reports, the University System of Georgia generated a record $25.1 billion economic impact for the state in Fiscal Year 2025, according to a report released Thursday. The total represents an 8.9% increase over the previous fiscal year. The study shows the University System of Georgia supported 170,096 jobs across Georgia. https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/university-system-georgia-generates-record-251-billion-economic-impact/SMBFTCNOORCVRDG6Y4SG75DTPU/
Aug. 17, 2026 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Albany: Dougherty County | Feel the Movement
LeeAnn Dance reports, downtown Albany is rewriting its story. Renovations are underway at the building that housed the former Belk department store on West Broad Avenue – the future home of the Albany Museum of Art when it opens in the spring of 2028.
Aug. 17, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Power deal to serve $20B OpenAI data center goes under the microscope
Drew Kann reports, Georgia Power’s deal to provide electricity to a massive, OpenAI campus planned near Savannah is drawing regulators’ scrutiny and reviving debates about how to keep residential customers safe from the facilities’ costs. The proposed $20 billion data center complex from OpenAI, maker of the popular artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT, is one of Georgia’s largest-ever economic development projects.
Aug. 17, 2026 Georgia.gov
Gov. Kemp: DeltaX to Establish North American HQ in Walton County
Staff reports, Gov. Kemp on Friday announced that DeltaX, a global provider of advanced battery energy storage solutions (BESS), will create approximately 250 new jobs and invest $141 million to establish its North American manufacturing headquarters in Walton County. “The decision by DeltaX to locate its headquarters here and further grow Georgia’s energy sector is another testament to our position at the forefront of innovation and emerging technology,” he said.
Aug. 17, 2026 GlobalAtlanta.com
Georgia Lands Korean Firm Working With SK to Design and Make Battery Storage Systems
Trevor Williams reports that Georgia has landed yet another Korean investor, a project reflecting a pivot by one of its largest existing partners from one clean-energy segment to another. DeltaX will put $141 million into an “integrated campus” including factories and an office building in Walton County, where it will start by assembling battery energy storage systems, Gov. Brian Kemp’s office announced Friday.
Aug. 17, 2026 Rome News-Tribune
NW Georgia inland port volumes up 41%
Staff reports that the Georgia Ports Authority announced this week that its Northwest Georgia inland port in Murray County broke a record in the number of containers it handled in July. The Appalachian Regional Port, a rail-connected inland port located in Crandall, handled an all-time high of 4,800 containers in July, up 41% or nearly 1,400, compared to July 2025.
Aug. 17, 2026 GPB
Georgia Power cedes more time for state regulators to review OpenAI contract for huge power supply
Grant Blankenship reports, experts advising state regulators will have more time to review a contract between Georgia Power and OpenAI — one that would provide triple the electricity needed by the state’s capital city of Atlanta at OpenAI’s planned Effingham County data center. Technically, the Georgia Public Service Commission has neither confirmed nor denied the contract to supply over 3 GW of power is for OpenAI data center.
Aug. 17, 2026 Savannah Morning News
Bryan County growth tops 16%, forcing focus on roads and planning
Latrice Williams reports that Bryan County’s population has increased by 16% in the past six years, according to Dr. Michael Toma, professor of economics at Georgia Southern University. U.S Census data predicts the county’s population at 52,000 people.
Aug. 17, 2026 Augusta Chronicle
Georgia residents can seek Helene recovery help through 2027
Erica Van Buren reports that the Salvation Army has extended its Hurricane Helene Long-Term Recovery Assistance Program for Georgia residents in need through Dec. 31, 2027. Hurricane Helene swept across Georgia in September 2024, causing more than $1.5 billion in property damage and an estimated $5.5 billion in agricultural losses.
Aug. 17, 2026 WABE
Georgia is now on a path to allow home delivery of medical cannabis
Rahul Bali reports, the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission is proposing amended and new rules, most notably to allow for home delivery. During Thursday’s commission meeting, executive director Andrew Turnage explained how home delivery would work for the companies currently licensed to produce medical cannabis in Georgia and the more than 45,000 patients currently registered.
Aug. 17, 2026 Georgia Recorder
Georgia officials say new federal Medicaid rules threaten state’s partial expansion program
Maya Homan reports, Georgia health officials are asking the Trump administration for more funding for the state’s partial Medicaid expansion program because they say federal changes are expected to increase enrollment by about 100,000 people, raising the costs of the program. The Board of Community Health, which oversees Georgia’s Medicaid program, announced at its Thursday meeting that they are once again asking the federal government to increase the federal match from about 67% to 90%, which is what states that have fully expanded Medicaid receive for providing coverage to a larger population.
Aug. 17, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia GOP feud over Raffensperger’s governor bid takes another turn
Greg Bluestein, Tia Mitchell, Patricia Murphy and Adam Beam report, one of the strangest fights in Georgia Republican politics has somehow gotten stranger. A year ago, Georgia GOP delegates overwhelmingly approved a resolution to bar Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger from qualifying to run as a Republican, the latest punishment for his refusal to help President Donald Trump overturn his 2020 defeat.
