A wave of county-level resistance is building in South Carolina as officials reconsider new AI data centers and residents raise concerns about what the facilities could mean for electric bills, pollution, and noise.
What’s happening?
In Spartanburg County, council members unanimously moved forward with a one-year moratorium, and only days later, hundreds of residents attended a three-hour public meeting about a different $2.8 billion project already under construction, the South Carolina Daily Gazette reported.
With Spartanburg moving ahead, the list now includes Chesterfield and Newberry counties, which approved moratoriums earlier this month, and Greenwood County, which is pursuing its own 12-month pause. Colleton County has also taken an initial vote on a six-month moratorium tied to a proposed massive project in the Lowcountry.
Across the country, communities are increasingly pushing back on hyperscale facilities being built to power the AI boom. South Carolina legislators tried to set statewide guardrails during this session, but the proposals stalled before any final vote…