S E N A T E A M E N D M E N T

   AMENDMENT NO. _____

310896031496000/DG

April 21, 2026

ADOPTED		TABLED	CARRIED OVER	FAILED	RECONSIDERED

Clerk of the Senate

   ADOPTION NO. _____

BILL NO: H.5126  (Reference is to Printer's Date 04/21/26-S.)

04572000 

 Senator SUTTON proposes the following amendment (DG DCCONT):

 Amend the bill, as and if amended, Part IB, Section 117, GENERAL PROVISIONS, page 585, after line 27, by adding an appropriately numbered new proviso to read:

/ (GP: Permit prohibition) (A) In the current fiscal year, no funds appropriated or authorized in this act may be expended to approve, permit, or otherwise authorize the operation of a data center with an electrical demand of ten megawatts or greater unless the owner or operator of the data center submits a report of its water usage to the Department of Environmental Services. The report must include, at a minimum, total water withdrawn, total water consumed, sources of water, and any reuse or recycling practices, and must be submitted by October 1, 2026. The Department of Environmental Services may expend funds to ensure that such reports are publicly available on its website and to provide a summary of the submitted data to the General Assembly by January 15, 2027.

 (B) For purposes of this proviso:

  (1) "Data center" means a facility, campus of facilities, or array of electronically interconnected facilities under a single electric supply agreement in this State used by an entity or other business enterprise to operate, manage, or maintain a computer, group of computers, or other organized assembly of hardware and software for the primary purpose of storing, retrieving, or transmitting data, other than facilities owned or operated by a telecommunications company as defined in Section 58-9-2200 of the S.C. Code or facilities that primarily support telecommunications service or network operations, that has a peak demand of fifty megawatts or greater, and that becomes a customer of an electric service provider after December 31, 2026. For purposes of calculating peak demand under this definition, peak demand shall be determined according to the contract between the energy user and the electric service provider, and the possibility or occurrence of energy usage which temporarily exceeds fifty megawatts shall not cause a commercial data center to fall under this definition where contractual peak demand is less than fifty megawatts.

  (2) "Electrical demand" means the maximum load in megawatts required to operate the facility./

 Renumber sections to conform.

 Amend sections, totals and title to conform.