What are data centers? And why do some in SC oppose living near them?
A hearing over a planned more than 850-acre data center campus in Colleton County drew hours of public testimony in December opposing the project. Cheers and clapping filled the room as residents implored the local zoning commission to keep large data center warehouses out of a rural area near Walterboro.
Blowback against new data centers has grown in South Carolina and around the U.S. South Carolina residents’ concerns over everything from high energy costs to noise pollution have drawn the attention from state lawmakers in Columbia.
As companies look to ramp up their digital processing and artificial intelligence capabilities, they need to build physical warehouses of computers. Some of those data centers are coming to South Carolina. While they may bring jobs and tax revenue, data centers can also strain energy grids and natural resources.
Members of the General Assembly are considering regulating data centers this year. The proposals would give the state more of a say and oversight over where data centers can be located, their water use and generated noise.
Here’s what you need to know about data center development in South Carolina.
What are data centers?
Data centers are physical warehouses storing the servers needed to power a variety of digital services, including the Internet, streaming and artificial intelligence. Data centers have been around for decades, but the growth of artificial intelligence and other digital services has increased the size and prominence of the warehouses.
How many data centers are in SC?
While the state Department of Commerce does not track how many data centers have come to the state, Secretary Harry Lightsey told lawmakers he estimates about 20-30 data centers currently operate in South Carolina.
One website shows 33 data centers in South Carolina, but its count includes some projects currently being built. Datacenters.com lists 16 operational data centers in the state, including several in Charleston, Columbia and the Upstate.
Where are new data centers proposed?
Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, is building a roughly 16-acre data center at the Sage Mill Industrial Park in Aiken County.
Google is spending $1.3 billion to expand its Berkeley County data center, the company announced in 2024. It’s also building two new data centers in Dorchester County business and commerce parks.
In Spartanburg County, TigerDC is planning an “AI-focused” data center, and it will be located in an industrial park.
Developers have also asked to build a more than 850-acre data center campus in Colleton County, near the ACE Basin.
Local TV stations and Capital B News have also reported the Marion County Council is weighing whether to approve a data center. The company behind the project has not been publicly disclosed.
How much water do data centers use?
Some South Carolina data centers use hundreds of millions of gallons of water. The state does not require utilities or technology companies to report how much water the warehouses use.
Data centers often use surface or groundwater to cool their warehouses of computers. Some methods use less water than others. But Rob Devlin, a South Carolina water regulator, told lawmakers the most efficient method, evaporative cooling, does not return most of the water it uses.
People living near proposed data centers have also raised concerns that the warehouses disturb ecosystems, depending on where they are sited, and contribute noise pollution.
How much energy do data centers need?
Data centers’ share of energy consumption in the U.S. will likely grow over the next few years. Plus, South Carolina utilities are anticipating data centers will require new generation over the next decade.
By 2028, data centers could use up to 12% of the country’s energy, compared to 4.4% in 2023, a 2024 study from the U.S. Department of Energy found.
In 2024, state-owned utility Santee Cooper CEO Jimmy Staton told a panel of South Carolina lawmakers that 70-80% — or a “lion’s share” — of its projected demand would come from data centers. Santee Cooper is planning to spend $10 billion over the next decade on new generation, Staton told lawmakers in December. That includes a $5 billion, 2,500 megawatt natural gas plant in Colleton County.
The Southern Environmental Law Center said the proposed Colleton County data center campus would use 1,000 megawatts of energy. That’s about 40% of the energy the planned natural gas plant at Canadys will create.
How many jobs do data centers create?
Data centers create temporary jobs while they are being built and a smaller number of permanent jobs. Lightsey told lawmakers many data centers create less than 100 new jobs.
Meta’s Aiken data center will employ 100 new “operational jobs,” the company announced in a news release in 2024.
The two Google data centers in Dorchester County will create 200 new full-time jobs and 1,500 construction jobs, according to a county fact page.
The TigerDC data center in Spartanburg will employ 50 people in its first phase of development.
Does the state of South Carolina recruit data centers?
The state Department of Commerce does not recruit or try to woo data centers to South Carolina, according to Lightsey. Most data centers also don’t receive tax incentives from the state, he said.
The South Carolina Department of Commerce awarded two discretionary incentives associated with new data centers to York and Greenville counties. York County received a $200,000 grant associated with its QTS data center, and Greenville County received a $50,000 grant connected to a DC Blox data center, commerce department deputy director of communications Alex Clark wrote in an email.
Many data centers receive tax incentives from local governments, however. For example, some counties, including Aiken, offer fee in lieu of taxes deals to attract data centers, which allows companies with large investments to freeze a property tax rate. Counties can also offer property tax exemptions to new investments.
Will Williams, CEO of the Western South Carolina Economic Development Partnership, said fee in lieu of taxes deals were necessary to attract companies like Meta to Aiken.
“Data centers can be a boon for our counties in South Carolina,” Williams told lawmakers last week.
Why do some SC residents object to data centers in their backyards?
Straining water resources, raising energy bills and creating noise pollution are all concerns some South Carolina residents have over new large data centers coming to the state.
Data centers planned for rural areas, like the campus in Colleton County, could also impact the local ecosystem and disrupt rural ways of life, residents worry.
“They’re trying to put an industrial complex in a rural community,” said Colleton County resident Jennifer Singleton. “I mean, it would be just like putting that said data center in a middle of a subdivision.” Singleton is suing Colleton County for changing its rural zoning requirements to allow for data center development.
What are lawmakers doing to rein in data centers?
While some states have adopted moratoriums on new data centers, South Carolina lawmaker have pushed for more regulation on the industry, rather than a ban.
Bills from lawmakers, primarily in the Senate, give the state more of a say and oversight over where data center can be located, their water use and generated noise. Two proposals from the Senate would give the state power to permit or certify new data centers, rather than solely local governments. A plan from state Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, would give the Department of Environmental Services the responsibility to permit new data centers. Sen. Luke Rankin’s, R-Horry, bill delegates the job to the Public Service Commission, the group overseeing utility rates.
“I tried to steer this middle ground in between providing for the protections that I’m hearing from my constituents,” Davis said at a hearing for his bill. “They’re worried about their power bills, they’re worried about effects on the environment. They’re worried about excessive water consumption. And so, I’ve attempted to address that, but in a way that doesn’t chill capital formation, in a way that doesn’t cause data centers to look at South Carolina and say ‘this is a completely unreceptive environment for us to invest, and we’re not going to invest there.’”
Under the bills, data centers would also have to report their water use and meet water efficiency standards. 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 share of energy demand. Noise restrictions would also be implemented under the proposed legislation.
Another bill would require data centers to report their water use to the state, if they are large users.
Last year, Senators included some data center regulations in a larger energy infrastructure bill, but they were stripped out in the House version. A bill filed by Senate Majority Leader Sen. Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, this year would instate some of the removed guardrails, like limiting tax incentives and requiring natural resource reporting.