Eagle Rock data center campus on Cooks Hill Road (ACE Basin)
Also called: Walterboro data center
Eagle Rock Partners wanted to build a 1,000-megawatt data center on 859 acres of timberland in the ACE Basin. Hundreds of residents and seven state lawmakers opposed it. The developer did not reapply after the hearing, and the county paused all data center approvals.
Where things stand: The developer needed to reapply after a December 2025 hearing but never did; the county then passed a 6-month moratorium in 2026.
🕒 Latest update (July 6, 2026): Colleton County's 6-month data center moratorium took effect; a conservation group paused its lawsuit over the zoning change.
What we know
- 📍 WhereOff Cooks Hill Road south of Walterboro, at the Ashepoo River headwaters in the ACE Basin, Unincorporated Colleton County, Colleton County
- 🏢 CompanyEagle Rock Partners
- 🌳 Size859 acres
- ⚡ Power it needs1,000 megawatts (about as much as 800,000 homes)
- ❄️ Coolingclosed-loop, non-evaporative cooling (developer's claim)
❓ Still unanswered
Nobody has answered these in public yet. Can you help find out?
- Has Eagle Rock Partners formally dropped the Cooks Hill Road site? 🙋 I'll find out
What happened so far
- Nov 10, 2025Colleton County changed its rules to allow data centers as a special exception in rural areas, including the ACE Basin.
- Nov 21, 2025Eagle Rock Partners applied for a special exception for an 859-acre, 1,000-megawatt data center on Cooks Hill Road.
- Dec 18, 2025About 400 people came to the Zoning Board of Appeals hearing; most spoke against the project.
- Feb 5, 2026Seven state lawmakers from the Colleton delegation passed a resolution opposing the data center.
- May 4, 2026County Council advanced a 6-month data center moratorium; the article noted the developer had not reapplied.
- July 6, 2026Colleton County's 6-month data center moratorium took effect; a conservation group paused its lawsuit over the zoning change.
Local votes and rules
🗺️ Zoning change
Colleton County Council unanimously created a Digital Infrastructure Overlay District that opens much of the county's rural land to data centers, with rules on noise, buffers, site size and cooling. More than 5,000 people signed a petition against it.
⏸️ Pause on new data centers
Colleton County Council unanimously passed a six-month pause on special exceptions, conditional uses and other approvals for data centers. In September, council lifted the pause west of I-95 and on land already zoned industrial.
⚖️ Court case
Two residents, with lawyers from the Southern Environmental Law Center, sued Colleton County over the rule letting data centers into rural districts. They say it breaks state law, the county plan and the zoning code, and that notice was not proper. The case was paused in July 2026 while the county moratorium is in place.
🗺️ Zoning change
Colleton County Council changed its zoning so data centers can be allowed by special exception in two rural zoning districts. Residents sued, saying it breaks state law and the county plan, and could bring industry into the ACE Basin.
An aerial photo of the area.
Where this comes from
- Colleton County lawmakers oppose proposed data center in ACE Basin · Live 5 News · Feb 5, 2026
- Colleton County data center proposal draws opposition at zoning hearing · Live 5 News · Dec 19, 2025
- Colleton County erupts as residents clash with developers over controversial data center · ABC News 4 · Dec 18, 2025
- Colleton County advances moratorium months after public outcry over proposed data center · Post and Courier · May 7, 2026
- 6-month pause on data center developments in Colleton County; lawsuit paused · Live 5 News · July 7, 2026
- ACE Basin data center fight takes shape · The Island News · Jan 1, 2026
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