Greenwood Lawmakers Draft Statewide Rules for Data Centers

GREENWOOD, S.C. — Two Greenwood County members of the S.C. House are writing a bill that would set statewide ground rules for data centers, from how far the buildings must sit from homes to who pays for the electricity they use.

Rep. John McCravy, a Greenwood Republican who represents House District 13, and Rep. Daniel Gibson are writing it together, and their draft carries the name South Carolina Data Center Community Protection Act. McCravy plans to prefile it in December ahead of the 2027 session, with himself as lead sponsor and Gibson as co-sponsor. The bill has not yet been introduced.

The draft works as a floor rather than a ceiling. Counties and cities could still set tougher terms or reject a project outright. New centers and major expansions would need approval from local government, the Public Service Commission and the state Department of Environmental Services, with public hearings and recorded votes, on land suited to heavy industry.

Among the main provisions in the working draft:

• Buffer: McCravy wants 5,000 feet between data center buildings and nearby homes, churches, schools, hospitals and land zoned residential. The current text says 2,000 feet, and he has asked for the larger figure.
• Water: only closed-loop cooling, which recirculates coolant; evaporative and open-loop systems would be banned.
• Power: operators would have to build, own or finance enough new generation for their own load and cover grid hookup and backup costs, so existing utility customers are not billed for them.
• Noise: 20 A-weighted decibels at the property line during normal operation and 50 for backup generators.
• Notice: mailed letters to owners within 3,000 feet, plus state hearings and at least 30 days for written comment.
• Penalties: cleanup plans and financial guarantees for abandoned sites, and fines as high as $25,000 a day for each violation.

Centers already operating would not have to retrofit, though a later expansion or material change would bring them under the new rules.

Greenwood County has already hit pause. In July, council voted 4-3 to remove data centers from every zoning district and adopted a one-year moratorium. County staff have since told the study group that the 12-month window is its working timeline.

That group, the seven-member Ad Hoc Committee for Data Centers chaired by Steve Coleman, picked water and sewer capacity as its first subject. County Council on Tuesday moved $50,000 from the general fund balance to cover its expenses, with council sign-off required for travel and any spending of $2,500 or more. The committee meets again at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28, inside the Greenwood County Library, and residents can send questions to [email protected].

Filed under: Greenwood SC Business News