Meta Aiken data center, Graniteville, South Carolina

Meta's Aiken data center is an $800 million campus under construction in the Sage Mill Industrial Park at Graniteville, Aiken County, South Carolina, due to open in 2027. Meta announced the 715,000 square foot building in August 2024 as its 22nd data center in the United States, built for its AI workloads. Gov. Henry McMaster attended the groundbreaking, and DPR Construction is leading the build; Meta says the campus will support about 100 jobs once complete, with more than 1,000 construction workers on site at the peak.

Power and water are the local questions: Aiken Electric Cooperative is the power provider, and Will Williams, president of the Western SC Economic Development Partnership, said a solar field in Orangeburg County feeding the Santee Cooper system will offset "some of the use that Meta will have, not all of it," adding that Meta had to pay for a power study before utilities agreed. Laura Warren, Meta's regional community development manager, said the company aims for the Aiken data center "to be water positive in 2030," meaning it would restore more water than it consumes. Meta also gave more than $600,000 in grants this August to 13 Aiken groups, including the school district.

Two smaller data centers are also being built in the county: Oppidan Investment Company is building a $32 million, 60,000 square foot facility on Bettis Academy Road next to Sage Mill, needing 15 megawatts and six employees, and DC Blox is building on Atomic Road. Aiken County Council has approved incentive agreements for all three projects; Williams said Meta went through the county's industrial zoning process "just like any other industrial client does."