Aiken County Approves $32 Million Data Center Project

Aiken County officials have approved a new technology project at the government center for a $32 million construction project in Graniteville, South Carolina.

The site spans 13 acres next to Sage Mill Industrial Park, north of Fields Cemetery Road. Plans show a 60,000-square-foot structure by Clop Aiken SC LLC.

Based in Excelsior, Minnesota, the parent firm Oppidan Investment Co. stands behind Clop Aiken SC. Their track record includes data sites worth $5 billion, totaling over 10 million square feet.

The site will draw 15 megawatts of power. Water needs stay low — just 300 gallons daily, matching a typical house. Six workers will staff the center full-time.

The data center has been approved under an agreement that substitutes a fee in lieu of property taxes, offering economic incentives to support the project.

Yet County Council Chairman Gary Bunker stressed caution.

"A company is looking for a lot of different things," he said to The Post and Courier. "They are looking for support from the state, they are looking for utilities, and they are looking for potential rezoning, so this is just one aspect."

The council also passed a transfer of 6.06 acres of county land for community projects, along with next year's budgets for operations, capital, and debt service.