PICKENS, S.C. — Pickens County Council on Monday gave first reading to a six-month moratorium on new data center development, making it the latest Upstate county to pause the power-hungry projects while it decides how to regulate them.
The ordinance passed first reading in title only and still needs two more readings and a public hearing before it takes effect, according to The Journal and WSNW radio. The pause is meant to give county officials time to research data centers and draft rules governing where and how they can be built, both outlets reported. FOX Carolina reported that the measure would apply countywide and that no date has been set for second reading.
Much of Monday’s debate centered on what counts as a data center. Councilwoman Claiborne Linvill, who proposed the moratorium, said council needed a clear definition first: “we need to know what it is we’re talking about,” she said, according to The Journal. Council ultimately adopted a broad definition offered by Councilman Chris Bowers covering facilities built mainly to house computing, data storage, networking, high-performance computing or crypto-mining equipment, along with their power, cooling and battery systems. An amendment added cloud computing. Incidental IT space that supports a primary commercial, educational, governmental, health care or residential use is excluded, The Journal reported.
Before the vote, Frank Hollman, a senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, presented concerns about data centers’ energy demand, noise and water use, according to WSNW. Hollman pointed to a proposed Spartanburg County project that was presented as something other than a data center but was expected to draw 470 megawatts of electricity, up from 13 megawatts previously, The Journal reported. He told council that the rules should be written into an ordinance before construction begins rather than negotiated afterward.
Where the county lands after the pause is open. Chairman Alex Saitta wants council to give direction to the Development Standards Ordinance Committee on a permanent ordinance and floated an outright prohibition as one option, while Councilman Scott Lang referred the matter to that committee, according to The Journal. Linvill suggested weighing square-footage limits, energy thresholds and location restrictions, and said she would like a public meeting to hear from residents.
The move follows similar action across the region. Anderson County adopted a six-month moratorium in August, Laurens County approved a one-year pause in September and Spartanburg County passed an amended moratorium later that month, according to FOX Carolina. For brokers, landowners and industrial developers marketing large tracts with access to transmission lines, the string of pauses means data center users face growing regulatory uncertainty across much of the Upstate, and Pickens County’s eventual ordinance could set size, power or siting limits that shape which parcels remain viable for the use.
Sources: The Journal, WSNW / 94.1 The Lake, FOX Carolina
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