South Carolina Rep. Mace backs freeze on creation of new data centers in home state

WASHINGTON (TNND) — South Carolina GOP Rep. Nancy Mace called for a one-year moratorium on the creation of data centers in her home state.

“South Carolina is not Big Tech’s personal power grid,” she said in a press release on Monday. “These companies are planting massive data centers across our state, driving up energy demand, and leaving families and small businesses to pick up the tab. South Carolinians are already stretched thin. The last thing they need is a higher electricity bill subsidizing Big Tech’s bottom line.”

Data centers are buildings or factories that house IT infrastructure for building and delivering applications and services.

There has been a lot of backlash from local communities across the U.S. as some are being built in different states.

Many communities are concerned because data centers require large amounts of electricity and water. Communities are concerns about resources being drained, loud noise, land use and tax incentives.

“Reports say South Carolina has become a destination for data centers over the years and more are expected to come,” Mace’s press release reads. “Every new facility brings with it surging energy demand, costly grid upgrades, and growing pressure on utility companies to recover those expenses from ratepayers. South Carolina families cannot afford to keep picking up the tab.”

She said data centers need to pay their own way to come to South Carolina.

“A one-year moratorium gives South Carolina the chance to get this right,” Mace said. “When it is over, the rules are simple: data centers pay their own way or they do not come here. We don’t want to see eminent domain like what’s happening in Georgia, either.”