SC governor candidates agree on abortion, differ on gambling and Medicaid
South Carolina gubernatorial candidates Jermaine Johnson and Alan Wilson debated whether communities should decide if data centers are built in their areas. Johnson supports a statewide moratorium until lawmakers establish standards, while Wilson opposes a blanket pause and favors rules requiring data centers to generate their own energy and mitigate noise, light and other pollution.
During a gubernatorial debate in Columbia, Democratic state Rep. Jermaine Johnson and Republican Attorney General Alan Wilson offered similar views that local communities should have a role in deciding whether to host data centers, but disagreed over a proposed statewide pause. Johnson said he introduced a resolution in April calling for a moratorium on all data centers until South Carolina establishes a regulatory framework; the measure did not receive a vote.
Wilson argued that a moratorium would remove choices from communities that may seek data centers for their property-tax revenue. Instead, he called for statutory and regulatory guardrails requiring projects to generate their own energy and address noise, light and other pollution. The discussion occurred as the candidates debated broader state issues in the only scheduled gubernatorial debate before the election.