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Even self-described ‘Trump in high heels’ candidate warns bit barns could send power bills soaring
Opposition to datacenters: it's not just for the Bernie Sanders crowd anymore. An arch-conservative running for the governorship of a solidly Republican state has called for a datacenter moratorium in one of the clearest signs yet that the tech sector is facing a backlash against its AI ambitions. US Representative and gubernatorial candidate Nancy Mace (R-SC) on Monday called for a one-year moratorium on new datacenter projects in her state, saying that reports of the southeastern state becoming a hot destination for datacenters don’t mean her constituents ought to see their power bills rise."South Carolina is not Big Tech's personal power grid," Mace said in a statement published on Monday in her capacity as a congressional representative. "These companies are planting massive data centers across our state, driving up energy demand, and leaving families and small businesses to pick up the tab. South Carolinians are already stretched thin. The last thing they need is a higher electricity bill subsidizing Big Tech's bottom line."
Mace said a one-year pause on new projects would give the state an opportunity to implement rules ensuring any future projects include protections that wouldn’t cause residents to pay more for electricity. She also said she does not want eminent domain seizures of private property on the table either, pointing to an ongoing matter in South Carolina’s neighboring state, Georgia.
