As concerns spread that a proposed Clarendon County data center could strain the electrical grid, increase customers’ bills or consume large amounts of water, local officials say the project would be smaller than many modern data centers and would pay for the infrastructure needed to serve it.
Known as Project 59, the proposed $130 million cloud-storage facility would occupy Santee Electric Cooperative’s existing Spec Building No. 9 in the Clarendon County Industrial Park. The approximately 100,000-square-foot building sits on a 32.5-acre industrial site.
A developer Kosinski identified as “Five Nines” is pursuing the project but would not operate the facility. Clarendon County Business Development Director George Kosinski said the county does not know the identity of the company that ultimately would run the data center.
The project cannot move forward unless Santee Electric determines that sufficient electricity is available. The cooperative is studying whether it can supply the requested load and was expected to reach a decision in early September.
“They’re still waiting on some more information from the power company,” Councilman John Coker said during an Aug. 24 County Council meeting.
If the necessary electricity is available and the remaining permits are issued, the facility’s demand is expected to grow to between 15 and 18 megawatts by 2029.
That would make Project 59 a large electricity customer. Most existing businesses inside the industrial park use between 1 and 3 megawatts, Kosinski said. However, the proposed data center’s demand would be comparable to some of Clarendon County’s largest manufacturing operations.
“I would consider this low on the water side, maybe high on the energy side,” Kosinski said.
Would customers’ electric bills increase?
Santee Electric buys its power through Central Electric Power Cooperative, which purchases electricity generated by Santee Cooper. Because the cooperatives serve multiple areas, a large new demand anywhere on that shared system could have effects beyond the county where a project is located.
The county has said Project 59 would pay the full cost of the infrastructure needed specifically for its service. The existing substation is expected to serve the facility, but the developer would pay for a dedicated feeder and any required substation transformer. Another transformer would be installed to serve the remainder of the industrial park.
No Santee Electric ratepayer would subsidize those project-specific costs, according to the county’s fact sheet.
The facility would also receive interruptible service. During an emergency or system constraint, electricity to the data center could be curtailed to preserve service for homes and other existing customers. The data center would then rely on backup diesel generators.
Those safeguards are intended to protect existing customers, but the power-capacity study is not complete. Until Santee Electric releases its findings, the project’s broader effect on the cooperative’s electrical system—and whether the added demand could affect future rates—cannot be fully determined from the information released publicly.
Kosinski said the financial arrangement differs from some traditional development projects in which infrastructure improvements may be offered as an incentive.
“This company is going to pay for everything,” he said. “If you want to come and you need that much power, you’re paying for it.”
Where would its water come from?
Project 59 would receive water and wastewater service from the City of Manning. Under the current proposal, the facility would not independently withdraw water from a lake, river or private well.
The facility is expected to use up to 8,000 gallons of city water and discharge approximately 1,400 gallons of wastewater each day.
Manning City Administrator Scott Tanner characterized 8,000 gallons per day as moderate-to-high use among the city’s industrial customers. The city’s largest water customer uses approximately 10,000 to 14,000 gallons per day, he said.
Although Project 59 would be a sizable customer, Tanner said Manning has enough capacity to serve it.
The city’s water system is permitted to provide 3.2 million gallons per day and has approximately 1.42 million gallons of unused daily capacity. At its projected maximum, Project 59 would use about one-quarter of 1% of the system’s total permitted capacity and slightly more than one-half of 1% of the currently available water.
“Capacity for this project isn’t an issue for the City of Manning, and we don’t anticipate any issues with providing services,” Tanner said.
The wastewater system can treat 5 million gallons per day and has approximately 3.2 million gallons of unused daily capacity. Tanner described the project’s anticipated wastewater discharge as moderate.
The data center would initially need approximately 40,000 gallons to fill its cooling system. That is a one-time amount, not its expected daily consumption.
County officials say the facility would use a closed-loop cooling system that continually recirculates the same water. Its daily demand would primarily replace water lost through evaporation and supply restrooms, sinks and irrigation.
The cooling system would reportedly be drained approximately once every 10 years. That water would be placed in trucks and transported to a specialized facility for cleaning rather than released into Manning’s wastewater system, Kosinski said.
For comparison, he said two of Clarendon County’s largest industrial operations each use approximately 750,000 gallons per day. Tanner cautioned that industrial comparisons are imperfect because consumption varies widely according to the type of operation, its hours and its manufacturing processes.
What has already been approved?
Santee Electric submitted a request to the county Planning Department in mid-July seeking a determination on whether the proposed data center would be permitted on the industrial property.
The department issued a conditional determination July 16 finding that the operation, as described, was most similar to light industrial use and could locate on property zoned Industrial I.
The determination did not authorize construction. The developer must still submit building plans and obtain building, zoning, fire-safety and any other required permits.
Kosinski said county officials first communicated directly with the developer on Aug. 17. Before then, the county received information and answered questions through Santee Electric.
Because the project is proposed for an industrial district and has not requested local tax incentives, it would not require approval from County Council if it meets all applicable requirements.
Potential jobs and tax revenue
Project 59 is expected to create 28 permanent jobs paying approximately $100,000 to $128,000 annually. Kosinski said the eight- to 12-month construction period could involve approximately 200 temporary workers.
The permanent positions could include electrical, heating and cooling, security, information technology, safety and facility-management jobs.
The project has not requested county or local tax incentives and is expected to pay standard property taxes.
County estimates project approximately $135.5 million in combined property-tax revenue over 30 years, including about $79.3 million for the school district and $56.1 million for county operations. Projected annual revenue would range from approximately $3.8 million to $4.9 million during the first five years.
Without an incentive agreement, the county does not currently have the usual mechanism to recover money or reduce tax benefits if a company fails to meet its projected investment or employment levels.
Kosinski said officials could explore a separate agreement establishing commitments to the county, local schools or workforce-training programs.
The figures released by the county describe what Project 59 could become. Whether those projected jobs, investment and tax revenue materialize will depend on the project advancing from a developer’s proposal to an operating data center.
