Data centers under further scrutiny by York, S.C., planning officials before public hearing
The York County Planning Commission on Tuesday recommended the approval of a nine-month moratorium on data center development.
The recommendation comes a day after the York County Council unanimously passed the moratorium’s second reading. A public hearing and third reading is slated for July 13.
County leaders said the pause would allow them to look at zoning and land usage, as well as the economic and environmental impacts of data centers.
Data centers are under scrutiny for their massive electricity and water consumption. A hyper-scale data center consumes as much electricity annually as 100,000 homes, according to the International Energy Agency.
The Environmental and Energy Study Institute found that large data centers can consume up to 5 million gallons of water every day.
Planning commissioners mostly agreed the pause is logical.
“We know [data centers] are benefitting a company, but how is it benefitting us?,” planning commissioner Derrick Williams said.
Interim County Attorney Laura Dover told county leaders on Monday the moratorium would likely not be applicable to QTS’s $8 billion hyper-scale data center project in Lake Wylie because development was previously approved.
If the moratorium is approved in July, York County would be the latest South Carolina community to approve such pauses on the controversial development.
Neighboring Chester County passed a six-month moratorium on June 18. Spartanburg, Chesterfield and Newberry counties are also considering moratoriums.
