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

   AMENDMENT NO. _____

310896031496000/DG

April 22, 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 PERMITCENTER):

 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, license, certify, fund, or otherwise authorize the construction, expansion, or operation of a data center. The prohibition contained in this proviso applies to pass through funds such as funding to counties and municipalities through the Local Government Fund. However, this provision does not apply to maintenance, repair, or continued operation of existing facilities that were fully permitted and operational before the current fiscal year began.

 (B)  The Department of Commerce, in consultation with the Public Service Commission, the Office of Regulatory Staff, and the Department of Environmental Services, shall submit a report to the General Assembly by January 15, 2027, evaluating the economic, environmental, energy, and infrastructure impacts of data center development in this State, including recommendations for future regulation or prohibition, to include: total water withdrawn, total water consumed, water sources, reuse and recycling practices.

 (C) For purposes of this proviso, "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 that has a peak demand of fifty megawatts or greater, and that executes an electric service agreement with 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 agreement 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 data center to fall under this definition where contractual peak demand is less than fifty megawatts. The term "data center" does not include any computing or data infrastructure that is incidental or ancillary to the primary business operations of any facility whose primary services are not data storage, management, processing, or transmission, any facility owned or operated by a telecommunications company as defined in S.C. Code Section 58-9-2200, or any facility that primarily support telecommunications service or network operations. /

 Renumber sections to conform.

 Amend sections, totals and title to conform.