South Carolina Data Center Investment Tracker

Landowners Miles Crosby and Jennifer Singleton sued Colleton County, South Carolina, challenging a new zoning ordinance allowing 'special exception' approval for data centers in rural areas.

TigerDC formally withdrew its $3 billion 'Project Spero' AI data center from Tyger River Industrial Park after Spartanburg County Council unanimously voted down two Fee-In-Lieu-Of-Tax (FILOT) agreements

$2.8B conversion of a former Kohler kitchen/bath plant (also a longtime bitcoin-mining site) into a computing center. State regulators initially approved ~50MW; company sought to expand to 450MW (five 17MW plus six 54MW natural gas turbines, atop 24 existing 2MW generators). On 27 August 2026 the South Carolina Public Service Commission ruled unanimously, with Commissioner David Britt recused, that the Utility Facility Siting and Environmental Protection Act does not apply to NorthMark's 457 MW on-site power station on Pine Street in Spartanburg because it generates power for internal use rather than export to the grid, and that only the Office of Regulatory Staff can enforce the Act. The Southern Environmental Law Center opposed the ruling and may seek reconsideration or appeal. Concerned Citizens of Spartanburg County filed a further suit in the Seventh Judicial Circuit Court asking the court to require the county to apply its land development ordinance and to make Valara obtain a major land development permit before the full planning commission; a hearing was held Thursday 17 September 2026. The South Carolina Department of Environmental Services granted NorthMark and Valara an air permit on 18 September 2026 to build 11 natural gas turbines at the Pine Street data center in Spartanburg, adding 408 MW to the 48 MW already permitted, for 457 MW in total. The permit sets rolling 12-month limits of 250 tons for volatile organic compounds, 250 tons for nitrogen oxides and 25 tons for hazardous air pollutants, with no single hazardous pollutant above 10 tons, and requires quarterly reporting in the first year of operation. The Southern Environmental Law Center criticized the permit. The separate lawsuit over the county land development permit remains pending. SELC, for Concerned Citizens of Spartanburg County and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, has asked the Public Service Commission to reconsider its August decision not to review the power plant under the Siting Act; SELC says the commission has 30 days to decide (Herald-Journal, 24 September 2026). The Southern Environmental Law Center is challenging the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services air permit approved on 18 September 2026, arguing that SCDES relied on new information and a revised formaldehyde emissions calculation (potential controlled emissions raised from 9.39 tons a year in the draft to 10.58 tons in the final permit) that came after the public comment period closed; SELC has demanded that SCDES publish the information and reopen public comment. SCDES says the figure assumes continuous operation and that the permit requires formaldehyde testing on the new turbines at different loads (WYFF, 6 October 2026). FOX Carolina reports the SELC letter asking SCDES to reopen the public comment period on the air permit was sent on 1 October 2026; SCDES says it reviewed the application, supplemental information and public comments before issuing the 18 September 2026 permit and that it must issue a permit when an application shows compliance. On Tuesday 6 October 2026 a judge dismissed the Southern Environmental Law Center's suit on behalf of Concerned Citizens of Spartanburg County, which argued the $3 billion, 270-acre Valara project on the former Kohler plant site should have been reviewed as a Major Land Development, and denied the requested injunction. The court found the group had not exhausted administrative remedies such as an appeal to the Board of Zoning Appeals and lacked standing. The SELC challenge to the air permit continues.

On 28 April 2026 Union County Council voted to table the first reading of a fee in lieu of tax (FILOT) ordinance for Project Alpaca, a proposed data center of more than $400 million in the Midway Green Industrial Park. The council said it will no longer consider the project for now and cancelled the 12 May 2026 public hearing; if the project is reintroduced it will hold a public information forum before deciding on the tax agreement.

Six-month moratorium proposed; zoning reconsidered. The Charleston City Paper identifies the proposal as a $6 billion, 850-acre project by Eagle Rock Partners and Thomas and Hutton on the headwaters of the Ashepoo River, which the Southern Environmental Law Center has challenged in court. After the county moratorium delayed it, Eagle Rock shifted to a new 1,200-acre site in the western part of the county, and on 14 September 2026 the Colleton County Council lifted its moratorium in the portion of the county west of I-95 (see the Rhodes Technology Park site record). Residents Miles Crosby and Jennifer Singleton, represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, sued Colleton County in state court over the zoning ordinance that allows data centers in rural areas by special exception, in a complaint reported 9 January 2026. The complaint says Eagle Rock Partners applied under the new rule for an 859-acre, 1,000-megawatt data center complex in the ACE Basin, and asks the court to overturn the ordinance and block approvals under it. On Monday 5 October 2026 the Southern Environmental Law Center and Colleton County announced a settlement of the lawsuit filed in January 2026 by landowners Miles Crosby and Jennifer Singleton, which challenged zoning changes allowing data centers in rural areas by special exception. Under the agreement the county will establish a Data Center Exclusion Area in its Comprehensive Plan prohibiting data centers across most of the ACE Basin in Colleton County, including lands along the Ashepoo, Combahee and Edisto rivers and the roughly 850-acre tract where the Eagle Rock campus was proposed.

County Council passed the third and final reading of a six-month data center moratorium on Aug. 20, 2026.

Chester County Council unanimously approved a six-month, countywide pause on accepting, processing and approving data center applications, directing staff to prepare development standards and invoking the pending ordinance doctrine. Workshops with experts were scheduled for 13 August and 28 September 2026.

Chesterfield County, South Carolina, enacted a local data center moratorium or ban, recorded in SAVRN's moratorium tracker as dated June 2026. Ordinance 25-26-23 imposing moratorium on data centers, data processing, and crypto mining in unincorporated areas until 1 January 2028. The measure runs to 1 January 2028.

Clarendon County Council passed the third and final reading of a moratorium pausing future data center development unanimously, with no one opposed, at its meeting on 14 September 2026. Council said the measure closes existing loopholes before a new project can proceed and that research on data centers will continue during the pause. Council members said an outright ban would be discriminatory and is not planned. Public concern centered on Project 59 and a Santee Electric Co-op proposal, along with tourism, environmental and water-use impacts. The duration was not stated in the reporting.

Fairfield County Council approved a 12-month moratorium on data centers at its 10 August 2026 meeting, becoming the second Midlands county to halt new construction, and plans to research data centers through town halls, expert work sessions and site visits. The State later described the August vote as initial approval, so final adoption status should be confirmed. Fairfield County Council gave the moratorium final approval as Ordinance 856 on 14 September 2026; during the 12 months the county will not negotiate with data center developers.

Greenwood County Council approved a one-year moratorium on new data center approvals 4-3 on third and final reading on 21 July 2026. At second reading on July 7 the council also rejected a separate ordinance that would have permitted data centers in designated areas. Council members said three companies had approached the county, though no deals were under negotiation.

Jasper County Council approved first reading of a one-year moratorium on 8 September 2026, covering applications for rezoning, site plans, building permits and economic incentives for data centers, data processing facilities and cryptocurrency mining in unincorporated areas. After a public hearing on Monday 21 September 2026, the council voted unanimously to approve the moratorium; Bluffton Today reported that meeting as the second reading, with a third reading to be scheduled at a future meeting. Staff said current zoning allows data centers by right in several commercial and industrial districts, and the Planning Commission recommended approval on 11 August 2026 invoking the pending ordinance doctrine.

Laurens County Council voted 6-0 on third and final reading to approve a one-year moratorium on new data center development in unincorporated areas, after unanimous votes on the first two readings. Vice Chairman Matthew Brownlee sponsored the measure to allow time to evaluate public health effects and draft siting rules.

The Spartanburg County Board of Zoning Appeals voted unanimously to uphold county planning staff's denial of the Lightstone Group's proposed data center at 300 Jones Road. Lightstone applied on 28 April 2026, and staff denied the plan in late June 2026 for noncompliance with the county's unified land management ordinance, then required a new application after Lightstone submitted revisions. Staff said new applications after 22 June 2026 would not be approved because a county moratorium was pending, while Lightstone argued the county had earlier confirmed a data center was allowed on the site. WSPA reported the county denied the application on 26 June 2026 and the Board of Zoning Appeals rejected the appeal unanimously on Tuesday 25 August 2026; WSPA identified the applicant representative as Lighthouse Data Centers, while The Post and Courier names the Lightstone Group.

Newberry County, South Carolina, enacted a local data center moratorium or ban, recorded in SAVRN's moratorium tracker as dated July 2026. 12-month moratorium on accepting new data-center permits, confirmed unanimously after the council unanimously denied the 'Project Altair' land-sale ordinance in June. Staff directed to research appropriate locations for future data-center development. The measure runs to 16 July 2027.

Orangeburg County Council voted unanimously to impose a moratorium barring development or construction of data centers in the county for at least a year. Councilwoman Latisha Walker, who sponsored the measure, said it gives the county time to establish protections for residents' homes, health and quality of life.

The McCormick County Planning Commission recommended denial of the Pollard Land Company rezoning and a nine-month data center pause on 30 July 2026 after a packed hearing. On 10 September 2026 the county council voted 3-2 to reject the nine-month pause on first reading, 5-0 to approve first reading of data center regulations, and 3-2 to approve the rezoning of roughly 1,000 acres. Deputies intervened when audience members approached the dais after the vote.

Marion County Council approved Project Liberty in January 2026 after council members signed non-disclosure agreements, drawing criticism over secrecy. Stream Data Centers announced in June 2026 it would not proceed, citing utility timing constraints. The cooperative MPD Electric said power could not be secured in a timely, cost-effective way.

Spartanburg County Council voted 5-1 on Monday 21 September 2026 on third and final reading to adopt a one-year moratorium on new data centers, with Councilwoman Jessica Coker voting no. Council adopted four amendments before the vote. Applications for new data centers received after first reading are held in abeyance. Data centers of 65 MW or less may still be built if they are in an established industrial park or on a former industrial site, do not generate their own electricity except for emergency backup, have storing, managing and processing data as their primary function, and are not on the same parcel as, in the same industrial park as, or within one mile of another data center. The moratorium does not apply to data centers that received a development permit within the 12 months before adoption, so the Valara data center under construction on South Pine Street is not affected. Ancillary business server rooms and cryptocurrency mining, which is regulated separately, are also exempt. After adjourning on 21 September 2026, council reconvened without public notice and voted to reconsider third reading; the county then posted a slightly more restrictive summary, attributed the difference to a scrivener's error, and said council will formally re-adopt the online version at its October meeting. South Carolina Press Association attorney Jay Bender said the reconvening was an illegal meeting, so the version passed on third reading remains in effect.

York County Council voted unanimously on Monday 13 July 2026 to start a nine-month moratorium on new data center proposals while it revises land use and zoning rules. The pause runs to about mid-April 2027 and does not stop the QTS campus already in development at Lake Wylie. County staff have since said an extension will likely be needed because an independent impact study, expected to cost $200,000 or more, could run until April and new rules would not be ready before fall 2027.