Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) is the latest Republican to back a freeze on new data center construction in her state as politicians from both parties grapple with how to address growing community backlash against energy-guzzling artificial intelligence server hubs.
The member of Congress on Monday called for a one-year moratorium on new data center construction in South Carolina — an increasingly attractive destination for developers drawn to the state by tax incentives and vast tracts of rural land. At least 44 data centers are located in South Carolina by one estimate, including a multimillion-dollar Meta campus in Aiken County.
“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,” Mace said in a statement, adding that the last thing South Carolinians need is higher electricity bills.
Mace also pledged to make data centers supply their own electricity to prevent Americans from shouldering rising costs associated with the megaprojects. “The rules are simple: data centers pay their own way or they do not come here,” she wrote in a post on X.
