Aiken County, South Carolina
DataCentersExposed tracks 1 AI data center in Aiken County, South Carolina — 0 operating and 1 in the pipeline, drawing 100 MW of reported power demand, led by Meta Platforms, Inc..
Sources: Methodology, Coverage scorecard
Reporting by Eric Keller · Updated May 29, 2026
What's happening in Aiken County
Facilities here with disclosed capacity draw 100 MW from the local grid. Data-center load on this scale is the single biggest driver of recent capacity-market price increases — costs that flow through to every ratepayer in the service territory, not just the operators.
Meta Platforms, Inc. has the largest presence in Aiken County. We resolve project codenames and shell LLCs back to the corporate parent wherever the public record allows, so the table below names who is actually behind each site.
Below: every tracked facility in the county, the active state legislation that names it or its county, and local news. Commissioner vote records arrive in a later release; the placeholders show where that accountability data will land.
2035 Buildout Outlook
Under the model's moderate-growth scenario (5%/yr annual load growth), PNNL's IM3 model sites about 1 standardized 36 MW campus in Aiken County by 2035 — roughly 36 MW of new electricity demand and ~35 M gal/yr of cooling water. For scale, we currently track 1 real data center in Aiken County (100 MW of reported power).
- Low growth136 MW · ~35 M gal/yr cooling water
- Moderate growth136 MW · ~35 M gal/yr cooling water
- High growth136 MW · ~35 M gal/yr cooling water
- Higher growth136 MW · ~35 M gal/yr cooling water
The model assigns ~100% of these campuses' cooling to evaporative water cooling in Aiken County (the rest to mechanical/air cooling), a split it derives from local water stress and wet-bulb temperature.
These are modeled candidate sites, not announced or permitted facilities. PNNL's IM3 model places identical 36 MW unit-campuses at feasible locations under each scenario — it shows where demand could concentrate, never a specific parcel. Figures use a market-gravity weight of 50. How the model works.
Every tracked facility
| Facility | Operator | Status | MW |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meta Data Center Graniteville | Meta Platforms, Inc. | Under construction | 100 |
County commissioners
How the Aiken County board votes on each data-center matter — the rezonings, the abatements, the water permits — is built from public-meeting minutes and roll-call records. Know of a vote we should be tracking? Tell us.