Oconee Planning Commission Debates Local Regulation of Large AI Data Centers Amid Statewide Legislative Activity

On Monday, the Oconee County Planning Commission reviewed a subcommittee report and heard public comments but reached no resolution on whether—or how—to regulate large AI data centers. Richard Ellison, operator of a small data center on Seneca Bypass, urged against classifying them as manufacturing uses and cautioned against misinformation portraying them as the internet’s physical backbone…

Home builder Tom Markovich noted that South Carolina lawmakers are considering nine bills to govern large data centers statewide and advocated for a local ordinance setting standards, warning that—beyond rising power costs and heavy water use—the facilities’ intense heat generation poses the greatest long-term community concern…