The recent legal settlement banning data centers from the ACE Basin is being celebrated as a massive victory, but look closely: it is a corporate magic trick [ABC News 4 Colleton County Settlement, SELC Press Release Settlement].
While everyone cheers for the left hand protecting our wetlands, the right hand is quietly moving the exact same 1,000-megawatt threat just a few miles up the road into Colleton County’s new northern overlay district.
Moving the location does absolutely nothing to change the devastating math facing our power grid. By 2030, our region will permanently lose 650 megawatts of reliable baseline power as local coal units retire. Slapping Colleton’s new 1,000-megawatt drain on top of that—combined with the massive Google footprint expanding right next door in Dorchester County—creates an unprecedented grid deficit of over 2,650 megawatts.
The illusion is that the problem has been solved. The reality is that tech giants are securing backroom Capacity Commitment agreements behind the scenes. Look at Google’s layout out of Dorchester: they have special, approved riders with Dominion Energy South Carolina (DESC) to guarantee they get first access to the grid’s juice.
To feed this insatiable, prioritized corporate appetite, utilities are rushing ahead with a massive 2,200-megawatt natural gas plant at Canadys Station and tearing up our land to lay miles of high-pressure pipelines.
And who is paying to perform this trick? We are. Everyday residential ratepayers will foot the entire multi-billion-dollar bill for these pipelines, substations, and gas plants through forced monthly rate hikes. Meanwhile, multi-billion-dollar tech conglomerates sit safely behind secure walls enjoying guaranteed first-priority power at deeply discounted industrial rates.
We cannot afford to fall for half a victory. Moving a grid crisis does not erase the deficit, nor does it stop the financial pipeline pumping cash out of local households!!!
