Massive data center plan dropped in SC after latest public outcry against projects
A Texas company that develops data centers across the country has dropped plans for a huge operation in South Carolina after drawing complaints about secrecy and the impact the center would have on a rural community.
In a post to its website, Stream Data Centers said establishing a center in Marion County won’t work because of “utility timing constraints.’’ The company was looking to develop about 400 acres in an industrial park near the city of Marion.
“Without the ability to meet established timeline requirements, Stream is unable to proceed with development at this location,’’ the statement said, noting that Marion would otherwise have been the type of community it could have invested in.
The decision by Stream not to pursue the Marion County project is the latest in a series of skirmishes across the state over the potential impact data centers proposed by various companies could have on the environment and power bills. Local officials from Colleton to Newberry to Spartanburg counties have heard from angry residents and taken action to limit the energy-hungry plants.
In Marion County, a mostly rural area between Myrtle Beach and Florence, residents let local officials know their concerns about the data center Stream had proposed. They were elated when they heard the news Thursday, May 11 that Stream had abandoned the Marion project.
Critics said much of the deal to locate the data center had been done behind closed doors and local politicians had sworn in legal documents not to discuss it.
Those worried about the data center said it could siphon up groundwater needed by farms to irrigate crops, while potentially causing power bills to go up — fears that are common in many communities where data centers are proposed. Concerns also were raised about noise from the data center.
Debra Buffkin, who heads the Winyah Rivers Alliance environmental group, said the Marion project was discussed behind the scenes at a time when the public needed to know about its community impacts.
“The way it was brought in, with the lack of transparency, was mind-boggling,’’ she said. County Council members signed non-disclosure agreements as part of efforts by Stream to locate in Marion, she said.
“These are representatives for the citizens of the county and they wouldn’t answer the questions for the citizens,’’ she said.
Gwen Strickland was one of them who said she couldn’t get answers. A local bookstore owner, Strickland said she was kicked out of a County Council meeting after asking questions.
“The news is wonderful,’’ she said. In addition to worries about the amount of water needed, “I was concerned about the electricity because, historically, where data centers have gone, the electricity charges for the public, not the data center, have gone up.’’
“Marion is a poor rural area and we need money, but our County Council didn’t do their due diligence to investigate. They just took what the data center was saying.’’
Efforts to reach several Marion County officials were not successful Thursday afternoon.
Stream had little more to say about its decision to abandon the Marion site, providing little detail in a late afternoon email to The State. But the availability of power was an issue.
MPD Electric, the electric cooperative working with Stream to obtain power, said in an email that it was told that Stream could not “secure the electricity needed for this project in a timely and cost-effective way.’’ But the email from marketing officer Matt Haynie said “MPD Electric was ready and willing to serve this site.’’
Stream, which is headquartered in Dallas, has been in business for 26 years. It has developed 27 data centers and is working on sites in about 10 other markets, according to its website. It has a presence in major cities including Phoenix, Chicago and San Antonio.
In Marion County, reports indicated the center would have required 400 megawatts, a large amount of power.
The project, which was to create some 600,000 square feet of space in multiple buildings, was forecast to provide tens of millions of dollars in revenue for Marion County, which is in search of ways to improve the economy. That would have come in the form of fees paid by Stream instead of taxes.
Statewide skirmishes
Stream’s announcement was made as disputes continue over allowing such facilities in South Carolina communities. Data centers help power the internet and increasingly are needed for artificial intelligence, but the need for water and power are issues that worry many people. The centers also take up substantial space and, in some cases, create a constant noise.
Those concerns have caused considerable discussion among state lawmakers about tighter data center regulations, but so far, nothing has passed the Legislature. The failure to establish statewide rules for data centers has led to a patchwork of different approaches to deal with them.
“We want growth and jobs, but we have to protect ourselves and our constituents from this growing data center onslaught,” said state Sen. Shane Martin, R-Spartanburg, on the floor May 7.
In Spartanburg County, a company behind a proposed data center pulled the project after local protests in February.
In Newberry and Chesterfield counties, local governments have adopted temporary pauses on data center development this summer.
Colleton County, where a massive data center campus was pitched in the ACE Basin watershed, is also planning a six-month moratorium to evaluate where the warehouses used to power AI and other digital services should go.
Hundreds of people initially attended a meeting opposing a data center in the ACE Basin, said Robby Maynor, a climate campaign associate at the Southern Environmental Law Center. But after the initial meeting, Colleton County locals kept up the pressure and continued to show up when data centers weren’t on the agenda. They also held rallies and sent letters to elected officials, he said.
Newberry County’s action last week reversed course on a pending data center campus approval after public outcry. The county then placed a year-long moratorium on new development.
Members of the public filled the Newberry Opera House, rather than the typical council meeting room. When council members announced a 12-month moratorium from the opera stage, attendees shouted, clapped, booed and pointed. Council members clarified the moratorium could be extended.
Once Newberry residents found out about the proposed data center, reactions were “immediate,” said local Tracy Clifford.
“The level of emotion, frustration and anger was mostly over the lack of transparency in the process,” Clifford, a Newberry County resident, said. “That created the most animosity.”
SC skips data center regulation
South Carolina didn’t pass any statewide data center regulations this year, though some reporting requirements for the AI warehouses may end up in the state budget.
Before the General Assemby adjourned in early May, state Sen. Allen Blackmon, R-Lancaster, said he was worried the state didn’t regulate data centers this year.
“I, for one, am going to be unfortunately disturbed going back home after this session is over with to say we didn’t do one thing,” Blackmon told the Senate May 7.
Two similar plans to oversee data centers, proposed by state Sens. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, and Luke Rankin, R-Horry, would have placed some rules on where the centers could locate, while increasing transparency for data center water usage.
Both measures stalled before reaching a Senate debate. Senators are still expected to return and finalize the budget this summer, but other bills that progressed further in the legislative process will hurt chances of data center proposals passing this year.
“I think in the meantime, right now, communities and natural resources across the state are vulnerable,” said Maynor, the climate advocate.
The legislative proposals would have required incoming South Carolina data centers to consider a variety of factors, like water demand and noise, depending on the size of the project.
Data centers would also have had to meet water efficiency standards and report water use. Additionally, the legislation directs the Public Service Commission, which oversees utility rates, to approve rate structures that ensure data center company’s pay for their energy demand, rather than the regular consumer. Noise restrictions, a concern for some residents, would also be implemented under the proposed legislation.
When it became too late in the year for a comprehensive data center bill to realistically become law, several senators proposed one-year budget items to ban some economic incentives and require water usage reporting.
Those proposals are also pending as both chambers finalize the budget. The House stripped the data center-related rules out of its version of the budget, so the rules are in limbo until the two chambers work out disagreements.
Blackmon, who proposed the budget item and a twin bill this year, said May 7 he was discouraged that his water reporting requirements wouldn’t pass this year.
“I have worked diligently, I have worked hard this session for one purpose and one purpose only,” Blackmon said. “And it was a very simple purpose. And it was just to ask the data centers to account for their water usage.”
“I don’t know what else to do,” he continued. “Are we going to go home ... and tell our constituents we didn’t even ask them to account for their water usage?”
