1-year ban on data centers not long enough for Beaufort County. ‘There are no regulations'
Concerned about large data centers hogging electricity and water and creating noise and vibrations, Beaufort County approved a two-year moratorium Monday to give planners time to study the impacts. Planners had recommended a one-year pause. But that wasn’t enough for the County Council, which upped the recommendation to two years by an 8-2 vote. Two more votes are needed to finalize the moratorium. The county has enough issues to deal with besides new strains on its water and electrical grid, Councilman Logan Cunningham said in proposing the two-year moratorium. “Right now there are no regulations at the state or federal level,” Cunningham said. “We need to allow time for the state and federal government to catch up, and we know we don’t want it here in the Lowcountry.” Data centers are becoming increasingly common across South Carolina, said Rob Merchant, the director of the county’s Planning and Zoning Department. Depending on their size, they may affect the electric grid, water resources, the environment, noise levels, traffic, emergency services, land values, housing availability, public infrastructure and overall quality of life, Merchant said in a memo. It’s the rise in AI that is driving construction of large data centers to support its
