Multiple AI data centers are planned or under operation near South Carolina's Lowcountry region.

More data centers are being proposed for the South Carolina and Georgia area to support growing artificial intelligence technology. Supporters cite economic benefits and job creation, while opponents raise concerns about environmental impact, noise, and resource consumption. Several South Carolina counties have passed temporary moratoriums on data center development in response to citizen opposition. Despite local pushback, large-scale projects are moving forward in Georgia, including one by OpenAI in Effingham County.

Data centers—the physical infrastructure of the Internet composed of servers, networking equipment, and supporting power and cooling systems—have existed since the world wide web was created, but construction on new, large-scale facilities has accelerated in recent years to support rapidly growing artificial intelligence technology.

Supporters, citing the United States' need to maintain innovation amid global competition, argue these data campuses create high-paying jobs and economic benefits. Opponents counter that they cause environmental harm, including noise pollution, and consume massive amounts of water and electrical energy.

While a six-month moratorium temporarily stalls the Colleton County data center proposal, and counties like Jasper have passed similar measures, plans are advancing for even larger centers in the nearby Augusta, Georgia area at the Savannah River Site and in Effingham County, Georgia.

**Project Camellia**

According to the Augusta Chronicle, OpenAI—the company that launched ChatGPT in November 2022—is building a massive 3.2-gigawatt data center codenamed Project Camellia in the Rincon area of Effingham County, Georgia, less than 40 minutes from downtown Savannah.

Project Camellia calls for four 720,000-square-foot data center buildings across a 1,440-acre site in the Savannah Gateway Industrial Hub over five years. The project is expected to create approximately 1,000 construction jobs and 1,000 permanent jobs once complete. OpenAI expects to complete the project in phases, coming online as early as 2028 with full operational status by 2032.

OpenAI stated it will pay full infrastructure and electric-service costs with built-in grid protections. The company committed to using a closed-loop water system that recirculates water rather than continuously depleting it. While the company promised water will not be diverted from local communities, an OpenAI spokesperson said the fully operational campus is expected to use approximately 30,000 gallons of water per day—equivalent to roughly 100 homes.

OpenAI is investing $20 billion to begin construction and expects the project to be privately funded without public money.

Following the announcement, the Savannah Morning News reported that the project has already sparked citizen protests over the company receiving significant tax breaks and economic incentives without public knowledge or input.

As an incentive, OpenAI committed $80 million in local support (separate from tax revenue) for schools, utilities, housing, and community factors, plus $71 million in credits for Georgia college students to use Codex, OpenAI's coding platform.

According to EffinghamGateway.com, the project is expected to provide the school district approximately $32 million annually. Local school officials said the additional tax revenue could support teacher salary increases and new facilities, technology upgrades, and other educational needs without increasing the local tax burden.

**Savannah River Site Data Center**

The Augusta Chronicle recently reported that a proposed 1-gigawatt artificial intelligence data center at Savannah River Site is progressing toward construction.

The U.S. Department of Energy has chosen to enter negotiations with Amentum, a global tech company, for a phased lease to develop a data center and supporting power plant, according to the National Nuclear Security Administration.

Sprawling DOE land assets such as SRS—covering more than 300 square miles across three South Carolina counties—are being leveraged to attract private-sector investors for data center development. SRS was one of four federal sites selected to participate in President Donald Trump's Executive Orders on Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure and Deploying Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security.

The project "pairs new AI infrastructure with dedicated onsite energy generation, helping ensure the project's electricity needs are met without shifting costs to existing utility customers," the NNSA said. "The project includes a 1-gigawatt data center and approximately 2 gigawatts of onsite energy generation consisting of natural gas bridging to nuclear energy."

The selection of Amentum does not guarantee a final lease award. According to NNSA Administrator Brandon Williams, working with the private sector allows the government to "move faster, apply innovative technologies, and make productive use of federal land while maintaining our commitment to mission delivery."

Amentum already provides logistics and technical services to many U.S. government agencies, specializing in nuclear security and cybersecurity. Williams said in September 2025 that "the work being carried out at NNSA to harness AI will have an impact on national security as the Manhattan Project did in the 1940s."

**Colleton County Moratorium**

Prompted by citizen concerns and vocal opposition, including a pending lawsuit filed by two landowners, Colleton County approved a data center moratorium on its third and final reading.

Plans for a proposed 800-plus-acre data center in a rural portion of Colleton County, and any future data center plans there, were officially put on hold on July 6 by Colleton County Council with a third and final reading of the moratorium.

The ordinance imposes a six-month moratorium on data center approvals and considerations—extensible if needed—to give county council, county staff, and the Planning Commission time to review and consider amendments to the land use code. The moratorium also allows officials to review areas where data centers may be permitted as special exemptions or conditional uses and the conditions governing their development.

However, on August 10, the Colleton County Planning Commission and Council approved the first reading by title only of an ordinance related to a "digital infrastructure overlay" that could still allow changes to the comprehensive plan and zoning ordinance regulating proposed data centers.

Data center opponents and environmental groups fear the overlay could permit data center development without public notice or board/commission vote, describing it as "underhanded tactics" to enable development contrary to the July moratorium.

"If this zoning overlay passes, data centers could be approved without any notice to the public and no public vote by a board or commission," stated the Coastal Conservation League on September 2. "The overlay could green light the largest data center in South Carolina—a one-gigawatt facility that would use nearly as much electricity as one million homes. The zoning overlay also allows for on-site energy generation, meaning polluting 'popup power plants' could be built alongside data centers in vulnerable rural areas. This is our chance to make our voices heard, as they are meant to be. We need transparency and accountability from our representatives, and we need them to do what's right by protecting our natural and rural landscapes."

The Coastal Conservation League has organized a petition asking Colleton County residents and others to [article incomplete].