Energy

2025-2026 Bill 784: Energy - South Carolina Legislature Online

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
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S. 784
STATUS INFORMATION
General Bill
Sponsors: Senators Massey, Campsen, Johnson, Sutton, Blackmon, Devine and Zell
Document Path: SR-0403KM26.docx
Introduced in the Senate on January 13, 2026
Currently residing in the Senate
Summary: Energy
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

Date

Body

Action Description with journal page number

1/13/2026

Senate

Introduced and read first time (
Senate Journal-page 51
)

1/13/2026

Senate

Referred to Committee on
Judiciary
(
Senate Journal-page 51
)

1/14/2026

Scrivener's error corrected

View the latest
legislative information
at the website
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
01/13/2026
01/14/2026

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING
SECTION
58-37-20
, RELATING TO THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION, SO AS TO PROVIDE
FOR DEMAND-SIDE PILOT PROGRAMS; BY AMENDING SECTION
58-37-120
, RELATING TO
APPLICATIONS FOR PERMIT, SO AS TO REQUIRE A PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD FOR ANY
APPLICATION FOR A PERMIT FOR AN ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT AND to REQUIRE
NOTICE TO AFFECTED LANDOWNERS IF A PUBLIC UTILITY THAT PLANS TO CONSTRUCT, OR
HAS ENTERED INTO AGREEMENTS TO CONSTRUCT, AN ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT THAT
MAY RESULT IN THE USE OF EMINENT DOMAIN AND TO PRESCRIBE THE METHODS AND
CONTENT OF THE NOTICE; BY ADDING SECTION
58-37-835
SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR THE
TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF ELECTRIC SERVICE TO COMMERCIAL DATA CENTERS; BY ADDING
SECTION
58-37-836
SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR REPORTS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF
ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES CONCERNING SURFACE AND GROUND WATER USED BY COMMERCIAL
DATA CENTERS; BY AMENDING SECTION
12-36-2120
, RELATING TO EXEMPTIONS FROM SALES
TAX, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT THE COMPUTER EQUIPMENT EXEMPTION IS AVAILABLE TO A
TAXPAYER THAT ENTERED INTO A FEE IN LIEU AGREEMENT ON OR BEFORE MAY 30, 2025;
TO PROVIDE THAT THE EXEMPTION FOR ELECTRICITY USED BY A TECHNOLOGY INTENSIVE
FACILITY IS NOT AVAILABLE TO A TAXPAYER THAT DID NOT CLAIM THE CREDIT PRIOR TO
MAY 30, 2025; TO PROVIDE THAT TO CLAIM THE EXEMPTION FOR ORIGINAL OR
REPLACEMENT COMPUTERS, COMPUTER EQUIPMENT, AND COMPUTER HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE
PURCHASES USED IN A DATACENTER, THE TAXPAYER MUST HAVE NOTIFIED THE DEPARTMENTS
OF REVENUE AND COMMERCE OF ITS INTENTION TO CLAIM THE CREDIT ON OR BEFORE MAY
30, 2025; AND TO PROVIDE THAT THE EXEMPTION FOR ORIGINAL OR REPLACEMENT
COMPUTERS, COMPUTER EQUIPMENT, AND COMPUTER HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE PURCHASES
USED IN A DATACENTER THE TAXPAYER MUST HAVE BEEN CERTIFIED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF
COMMERCE PRIOR TO MAY 30, 2030.

B
e it enacted by the
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

S
ECTION 1.
S
ections
58-37-20
(B) and (C) of the S.C. Code are
amended to read:

(
B) The commission
may
shall
approve any program
filed by a public utility if the program is found to be cost-effective.
Furthermore, the commission may, in its discretion, approve
demand-side pilot programs and
any program filed by a
public utility that is not cost-effective, so long as the proposed demand-side
management program is targeted to low-income customers
,
provided that
and
the public utility's
portfolio of demand-side management programs is cost-effective as a whole.

(
C)
The South Carolina Public Service Commission must adopt procedures that require
electrical utilities and public utilities providing gas services subject to the
jurisdiction of the commission to plan for and invest in all reasonable,
prudent, and available energy efficiency and demand-side resources that are
cost-effective energy efficient technologies and energy conservation programs
in an amount to be determined by the commission
that achieve net energy savings of at least 0.66 percent of
total retail sales as of May 15, 2027, or a higher level as determined by the
commission
.
Energy efficiency shall be considered a
component of the requirement for a utility to make every reasonable effort to
minimize fuel costs as outlined in Section
58-27-865
(F) and the commission may
grant a proportional disallowance based on evidence in the record.
If an
electrical utility fails to meet the requirements of this section as determined
by the commission,
then
the commission is
authorized to appoint a third-party administrator to carry out the residential
low-income energy efficiency duties pursuant to this section on behalf of the
electrical utility if the commission determines that having such a third-party
administrator is in the public interest and consistent with law.
Such a program shall be funded through the existing energy
efficiency rider mechanism with those funds transferred to the third-party
administrator.
Upon notice and hearings that the commission may require,
the commission may issue rules, regulations, or orders pursuant to this chapter
to implement applicable programs and measures under this section. If adopted,
these procedures must: provide incentives and cost recovery for energy
suppliers and distributors who invest in energy supply and end-use technologies
that are cost-effective, environmentally acceptable, and reduce energy
consumption or system or local coincident peak demand; allow energy suppliers
and distributors to recover costs and obtain a reasonable rate of return on
their investment in qualified demand-side management programs sufficient to
make these programs at least as financially attractive as construction of new
generating facilities; require the Public Service Commission to establish
rates and charges that ensure that the net income of an electrical or gas
utility regulated by the commission after implementation of specific
cost-effective energy conservation measures is at least as high as the net
income would have been if the energy conservation measures had not been
implemented.

S
ECTION 2.
S
ection
58-37-120
(A)(1) of the S.C. Code is amended to
read:

(
A)
(
1) Any agency presented with an
application for a permit for an energy infrastructure project shall promptly
provide a public comment period
if required by regulation
and
shall review and issue a decision on the application no later than six months
after the date the application is received by the agency. If the agency fails
to undertake review of and take final action upon the application within the
six-month review period, as defined in subsection (A)(3),
then

the application shall be deemed approved, and the agency shall promptly
issue documentation of such approval.

S
ECTION 3.
S
ection
58-37-120
of the S.C. Code is amended by
adding:

(
E) No later than sixty days prior to
filing a permit application pursuant to this section, a public utility that
plans to construct, or has entered into agreements to construct, an energy
infrastructure project that may result in the use of eminent domain must
provide written notice, via certified United States mail, to any property
owners whose property may be acquired or condemned. The notice must clearly
state the need for the project, its preferred and any alternative locations or
routes, a phone number or email address that property owners may contact at the
public utility, and an appropriate contact at the Office of Regulatory Staff.
No later than thirty days after an application is filed, the public utility
must hold a public meeting to solicit feedback from interested members of the
affected community. As soon as practicable after an application is filed, the
public utility must provide public notice of the meeting required pursuant to
this section in a newspaper or other publication of general circulation in each
county where the project is proposed to be located. Written notice must also be
provided to all landowners whose property may be affected.

S
ECTION 4.
C
hapter 27, Title 58 of the S.C. Code is amended by
adding:

S
ection
58-27-835
.
(
A) For the purposes of this section:

(
1)
"Commercial data center" means a facility, campus of facilities, or array of
interconnected facilities 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 and that has a peak demand of one
hundred megawatts or greater.

(
2)
"Electric service provider" means an electrical utility, consolidated political
subdivisions, electric cooperatives, and the Public Service Authority.

(
B) Notwithstanding
any other provision of law, an electric service provider shall require
additional terms and conditions of electric service including, without
limitation, rates, charges, minimum billing requirements, and longer terms of
contract, designed to ensure all costs associated with serving or preparing to
serve commercial data centers are recovered solely, or at least substantially,
from commercial data centers. These terms and conditions shall include at least:

(
1)
a contract term of at least fifteen years;

(
2)
minimum billing requirements;

(
3)
a requirement that the commercial data center, upon termination of its contract
for electric service, pay any unrecovered costs incurred in serving or
preparing to serve the commercial data center including, but not limited to,
distribution, transmission, and generation costs associated with the provision
of electric service to the commercial data center;

(
4)
collateral from the commercial data center to be paid to the electric service
provider in the event the commercial data center terminates its contract prior
to the contract expiration date. The electric service provider must maintain
this collateral in a separate account. In the event the account earns any
interest, that interest amount must be applied towards the commercial data
center's outstanding costs, less any administrative fees the electric service
provider may have incurred due to the account; and

(
5)
a requirement that the commercial data center, upon termination of its contract
for electric service, pay any unrecovered costs incurred in serving or
preparing to serve the commercial data center to the electric service provider.
This must include, but not be limited to, distribution, transmission, and
generation costs associated with the provision of electric service to the
commercial data center.

(
C) Any
contract pursuant to this section must be approved by the Public Service
Commission. Before the commission approves a contract, it must determine that
the contract meets the requirements of this section and that costs associated
with increased fuel requirements, generation costs, and transmission costs
that:

(
1)
are substantially related to the provision of electric services to the
commercial data center; and

(
2)
would not have been incurred but for the electric demand of such commercial
data center, shall be recovered solely by the electric service provider from
the commercial data center.

(
D) The
provisions of this section shall not apply to a commercial data center that is
a customer of an electric service provider in this State as of May 15, 2025.

S
ection
58-27-836
. A
commercial data center, as defined in Section
58-27-835
, must report to the
Department of Environmental Services annually by January thirty first the
amount of surface water and ground water the commercial data center utilized
withing the prior twelve months and the anticipated amount of surface water and
ground water to be utilized during the next twelve months. The department may
assess a civil penalty against the owner of a commercial data center of not
more than ten thousand dollars for each day after January thirty first that the
report is not filed with the department.

S
ECTION 5.
S
ection
12-36-2120
(65)(a) of the S.C. Code is amended
to read:

(
65)
(
a) computer equipment, as defined in
subitem (c) of this item, used in connection with a technology intensive
facility as defined in Section
12-6-3360
(M)(14)(b), where:

(
i)
the taxpayer invests at least three hundred million dollars in real or personal
property or both comprising or located at the facility over a five-year period;

(
ii)
the taxpayer creates at least one hundred new full-time jobs at the facility
during that five-year period, and the average cash compensation of at least one
hundred of the new full-time jobs is one hundred fifty percent of the per
capita income of the State according to the most recently published data
available at the time the facility's construction starts;

and

(
iii)
at least sixty percent of the three hundred million dollars minimum investment
consists of computer equipment;
and

(
iv) the taxpayer entered into a
fee-in-lieu agreement on or before May 30, 2025, and any subsequent renewal of
the agreement;

S
ECTION 6.
S
ection
12-36-2120
(66) of the S.C. Code is amended to
read:

(
66) electricity used by a
technology intensive facility as defined in Section
12-6-3360
(M)(14)(b) and
qualifying for the sales tax exemption provided pursuant to item (65) of this
section
on or before May 30, 2025
, and the
equipment and raw materials including, without limitation, fuel used by such
qualifying facility to generate, transform, transmit, distribute, or manage
electricity for use in such a facility. The running of the periods of
limitation within which the department may assess taxes pursuant to Section
12-54-85
is suspended during the same time period it is suspended in item
(65)(d) of this section;

S
ECTION 7.
S
ection
12-36-2120
(79)(C)(1) of the S.C. Code is
amended to read:

(
C)
(
1) To qualify for the exemption
allowed by this item, a taxpayer, and the facility in the case of a
seventy-five million dollar investment made by more than one taxpayer, shall
, on or before May 30, 2025,
notify the Department of
Revenue and Department of Commerce, in writing, of its intention to claim the
exemption. For purposes of meeting the requirements of subitems (B)(5)(ii) and
(B)(5)(iii) , capital investment and job creation begin accruing once the
taxpayer notifies each department. Also, the five-year period begins upon
notification.

S
ECTION 8.
S
ection
12-36-2120
(79)(G) of the S.C. Code is amended
to read:

(
G) This subitem only applies to a
datacenter that is certified by the Department of Commerce pursuant to subitem
(D)(1) prior to
January 1, 2032
May 30, 2030
. However, this item shall continue to apply
to a taxpayer that is certified by
December 31, 2031
May 29, 2030
, for an additional
ten
ten-
year period. Upon the end of the
ten
ten-
year period, this
subitem is repealed;

S
ECTION 9. This act takes effect upon approval
by the Governor.

----XX----

This web page was last updated on January 14, 2026 at 5:57 PM