The Truth About Data Centers

Welcome to the Innovation Age! It’s scary and exciting. Technology is advancing so rapidly it’s difficult to grasp the implications.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and the data centers that support it are garnering the same sort of resistance the “horseless carriage” received when it first appeared on American roads in the late 19th century. The reaction from a society built around horses and buggies ranged from deep skepticism to outright hostility. The public outrage viewed motorists as a public menace, and laws were proposed to curtail drivers, such as requiring a driver to dismantle the car and hide the parts if a horse refused to pass.

The transition from horse to horsepower wasn’t an overnight triumph. It was a messy, loud adjustment period until automobiles proved their worth.

Fast Forward to Today

History and human nature are often repetitive. The 1890s sound familiar to the blowback AI and data centers are getting today. In an era defined by rapid technological advancement, those two connected entities have become an easy target. Yet, their contributions are fundamental to America’s safety and the evolution of society.

Then & Now

South Carolina has long built its economy by adapting to new industries. In the late 1800s, the state harnessed its water and energy resources to transform raw cotton into manufactured goods, with Aiken County emerging as a major textile center. When the textile industry declined, South Carolina successfully reinvented itself as a leader in advanced automotive manufacturing.

Today, data centers represent the next chapter in that evolution, converting raw data into computing power that fuels artificial intelligence, healthcare, business, education, and national defense. Far more than warehouses for information, data centers are the critical infrastructure powering the digital economy and the innovations that will shape our future.

The Race for AI superiority

Look no further than un-social media to spread lies about the evils of data centers. It has been confirmed that our national adversaries are helping drive Americans’ negativity. After all, our enemies want us to fail so they win. It is estimated that China has as many as 700 commercial and hyperscale data centers, and 2,000 large-scale data centers. Data centers of every size exceed 70,000 in China. Clearly, America is in an arms race with its adversaries because AI supremacy is essential for national defense and economic stability.

Myth Busting

MYTH: Data centers consume enormous amounts of electricity and drive up everyone’s utility bills.

FACT: Virginia, the nation’s data center leader with more than 600 facilities, has experienced rapid data center growth without electricity prices rising faster than inflation. Data centers pay to expand the grid and absorb significant fixed utility costs; they can actually help stabilize rates because they require a constant load that utilities can count on versus the up-and-down requirements of the rest of the grid. In Aiken County, Meta funded its own transmission lines, two substations, and a $100 million solar project that adds power back to the grid.

Looking ahead, small modular reactor (SMR) technology, not the local electrical grid, will be powering data centers. That is a similar generation source that has been powering our nuclear submarine fleet around the world for generations.

Additional consumer protections came last week when South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster joined 22 other Republican governors who signed President Trump’s expanded Ratepayer Protection Pledge that calls on AI data center developers to pay for the costs of new electric generation and grid upgrades needed to serve their facilities. This ensures that costs are not shifted to residential or small-business utility customers through higher electric rates.

MYTH: Data centers will drain local water supplies.

MYTH: Data centers exist only to benefit Big Tech.

FACT: Data centers power the digital services we all rely on every day — from hospitals and banks to schools, emergency responders, cloud storage, and the millions of smartphones in our pockets. Every online search, financial transaction, telehealth visit, and AI application depends on data centers.

MYTH: Data centers provide little value to local communities.

FACT: Nationally, they bring in billions in private investment, generate substantial property tax revenue, create thousands of construction jobs, and support hundreds of high-paying permanent positions. The result is a stronger local economy and a broader tax base that benefits everyone.

One Example: Transforming healthcare

Improving your health is just one example of how AI and data centers are revolutionizing our lives. They support artificial intelligence and predictive analytics, helping healthcare providers identify potential illnesses earlier and tailor preventive care to individual patients. These capabilities are advancing the shift toward more personalized and proactive medicine. Data centers are driving breakthroughs in genomic medicine by processing vast amounts of genetic data and enabling collaboration among scientists worldwide. Together, these technologies are improving patient outcomes, expanding access to care, and accelerating the development of more precise, effective treatments.

Embrace the AI innovation era

As America stands at the dawn of the AI era, we face a choice. We can embrace the infrastructure that will power the next generation of innovation, or we can allow fear, misinformation, and shortsighted political policies to slow our progress.

History teaches that every transformative technology has faced resistance. Railroads, electricity, automobiles, and the internet all encountered skeptics who focused on perceived risks rather than extraordinary opportunities. Yet each ultimately made America stronger, more prosperous, and more competitive.

Data centers today’s essential infrastructure. They power the digital economy, support hospitals, schools, businesses, first responders, and national defense, while providing the computing capacity that will drive breakthroughs in medicine, manufacturing, agriculture, and scientific research.

Unlike New York State, which foolishly placed a moratorium on data center construction, South Carolina welcomes responsible development that will attract billions in private investment, strengthen our tax base, and position South Carolina at the forefront of the AI revolution.

The question isn’t whether we will have data centers — thousands will be built in the coming years. The question is where. Local governments are responsible for zoning that will place data centers in business and industrial parks, or spaces that won’t be in your backyard, thus addressing the NIMBY backlash.

Just last week, the National Nuclear Security Administration announced the development of an AI data center and dedicated on-site energy generation source at the Savannah River Site right here in Aiken County. It will be one of the nation’s largest integrated AI and energy infrastructure projects. This project supports the Trump administration’s goals of utilizing Federal lands to lower energy costs and help power the global AI race.

America has never led the world by fearing the future. We have led by building it. The same vision that once connected our nation with railroads, highways, and electric power should now inspire us to invest confidently in the digital infrastructure that will define the next century. Data centers aren’t just buildings — they are the foundation of America’s future.

Note: Two Chambers of Commerce in my area, Aiken, South Carolina and Columbia County, Georgia, recently addressed data centers. You can find their statements linked here.