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by DYLAN NOLAN
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Hundreds of Colleton County residents descended upon on the local civic center in Walterboro, South Carolina on Thursday evening (December 18, 2025) to protest county council’s bid to amend its zoning process to facilitate the construction of an 859-acre data center near Green Pond, S.C.
Council leaders came under scrutiny last month after approving an ordinance giving zoning officials the authority to grant the data center a “special exemption” – bypassing the normal public comment process. This would have allowed the project to proceed on the basis of a single vote of the county’s zoning appeals board.
This move was especially controversial because the campus proposed by Eagle Rock Partners and other developers sits atop the state’s pristine ACE Basin, one of the largest tracts of undeveloped land on America’s East Coast.
After county leaders attempted to fast track the project during the busy holiday season, thousands of citizens took note, spoke out and turned up in droves – prompting the zoning appeals board to schedule an information-only session to hear from both developers and members of the community without to pressure to immediately vote on the proposal (effectively negating county council’s move to expedite the process to a single reading).
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Speaking on behalf of Eagle Rock, Charlotte N.C. developer Ken Loeber attempted to assuage concerns of the potential impacts of the construction of a data center.
“The AI race that this country is in with other countries around the world is real, rooms like this are full across the country and there are real viable concerns,” Loeber began.
Loeber contrasted evaporative cooling, the kind seen in commercial buildings that issue steam to cool HVAC components, with Eagle Rock’s proposed self-contained cooling system. He explained that the self-contained system consumes less water at the expense of greater electricity consumption.
“There are significant upgrades that have to be done,” to the electrical grid to facilitate the operation of the facility, Loeber said.
“We should… and we will cover all of those costs,” he promised.
While Loeber acknowledged the Palmetto State’s need to increase energy generation – something driven in part by an inflow of data centers to the state – he claimed this would happen regardless of the approval of the ACE Basin data center campus.
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“Yes, elsewhere in South Carolina energy generation might have to be built to provide for the growth of all of South Carolina – that supports Santee Cooper, that supports Dominion, that supports Duke – those are projects that are being done regardless of whether we come to Colleton County or not,” he said.
“The simple fact is your rates are not going up due to this project,” Loeber continued, adding “that doesn’t mean I can sit here and make a guarantee that those larger entities may not raise your rates for the cost of gas, the cost of storm prevention, the cost of equipment to upgrade the transmission lines.”
In addressing ecological concerns, Loeber noted that none of the multiple proposed buildings would sit on wetlands, with only a small tract of wetland being developed to allow for the construction of a road to the facility.
Loeber next spoke about the economic opportunities associated with the proposal – including the jobs associated with its construction and promises by the company to employ around 450 people once all nine buildings were constructed.
“This is not a relocation – this is new growth,” Loeber said, addressing concerns of transplants taking jobs.
“About 30% of those jobs are in network and IT jobs – whether or not those skills reside in this room… they may or may not be, but they certainly could in five or six years (when the project is completed),” he continued. “Those jobs on average will be twice the average wage.”
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Lowcountry state senator Chip Campsen took the rostrum to speak to the ecological importance of the region.
“The most significant conservation achievement in the state of South Carolina, I would dare say on the entire East Coast, is the protection of the ACE Basin,” Campsen said, specifically addressing risks the project could pose to the Ashepoo River.
“This data center is trying to locate the headquarters of the Ashepoo River, and the Ashepoo River is really not a river,” Campsen said. “It’s more of a drain, and to the extent they use any water at all, it will pose a great risk to the Ashepoo River system and the ecology of that river system.”
Campsen used his position as state senator to provide insight into the South Carolina General Assembly’s attitude towards data centers, noting the S.C. House killed a provision he authored to force data centers to pay for their additional energy generation costs.
“If it weren’t for data centers, we would not have to build new generating capacity in South Carolina for ten to fifteen years,” he said. “Why? Because we become very efficient in our energy usage. The only reason that we have to build new generating capacity, and we’re already behind, is because of these data centers – and there is not a need for a single data center to be located in South Carolina.”
S.C. Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Mullins McLeod took a more flamboyant tack in his remarks while echoing Campsen’s energy generation concerns.
“Do you know what else this death star would do to this community?” McLeod intoned, “it would drive up every person’s electric bill that is in this room!”
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“Santee Cooper, God as my witness, does not have the capacity to service this gentleman’s request for this board,” McLeod bellowed with the cadence of a preacher. “So what that means is they have to build new capacity in order to satisfy this one man’s for-profit desires.”
Beyond the politicians, dozens of members of the community delivered speeches that ranged from well reasoned arguments to guttural expressions of frustration and fear over the pending destruction of their beloved agrarian land and lifestyle.
Local resident Richard Burke – whose parents live about a quarter mile from the proposed site – said he agreed with developers that “this is a simple zoning case.”
“It’s a very simple evaluation for this board – and you are constrained by the town ordinance and the county ordinances to how you are to evaluate this case,” he said.
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“This is a special exception evaluation,” Burke added, emphasizing that “this particular special exemption exception did not even exist until one month ago.”
“A special exception is not to be granted as a matter of right – you have to apply the ordinance in a mandatory fashion,” he said.
Burke pointed to county ordinances that demand zoning occur within the context of the county’s comprehensive plan.
“The 2030 comprehensive zoning plan is online, I invite every resident of Colleton County and interested person to read it,” he said. “(It is) very clear in that plan, there is no contemplated industrial use for anything resembling a data center.”
“The main question here is, why here? Why now,” Burke asked. “The answer is not here, not now, not ever.”
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The board of zoning appeal’s decision not to immediately take a vote means developers will have to resubmit their application for a zoning variance if it is to be considered again.
Eagle Rock partners recently withdrew similar plans that faced similar backlash in Jones County, Georgia.
Loeber told FITSNews he had not yet decided whether his firm would resubmit their Colleton County application as he was being escorted out of the building by multiple sheriff’s deputies for his own safety.
Count on our media outlet to keep tabs on the latest developments related to the proposed Colleton County data center – and the broader debate over the presence of these facilities in South Carolina.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
(Via: Travis Bell)
Dylan Nolan is the director of special projects at FITSNews. He graduated from the Darla Moore school of business in 2021 with an accounting degree. Got a tip or story idea for Dylan? Email him here. You can also engage him socially @DNolan2000.
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3 comments
Take note my fellow South Carolinians, YOUR leaders are selling you out. It is time to put and end to their betrayals all over the state.
Thank you FITNEWS. How did I not know about this? Well with The Federal government Growing like a weed and the POWER GRABING from state government its no wonder. I have neglected my own back yard! FITNEWS IS ALWAYS ON TOP OF OUR LOCAL ISSUES,THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO FOR US. A SUBSCRIPTION WORTH EVERY PENNY!
These spy centers are for your social credit score.