South Carolina Air Permit for Spartanburg Data Center Remains Under Review After Comment Deadline
The July 31 public-comment deadline has passed, but SCDES has not decided whether to approve a draft permit for 11 additional natural-gas turbines at Valara Holdings’ Spartanburg County data center.
The public-comment deadline for South Carolina’s proposed air permit for the Valara Holdings high-performance computing center in Spartanburg County passed on July 31, 2026. The South Carolina Department of Environmental Services, or SCDES, says the application remains under review and has not set a timetable for deciding whether to approve, deny or modify the permit.
The draft synthetic-minor air-construction permit, CP-50000422, covers 11 additional natural-gas-fired turbines at the facility at 4000 S. Pine Street in Spartanburg. SCDES extended the comment period by 30 days because of significant public interest. The agency’s June 25 availability session and public hearing were held at Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium after SCDES changed the venue to accommodate more attendees. The hearing date and project scope did not change.
What the draft air permit covers
Valara is seeking permission to generate additional electricity on site using 11 natural-gas-fired turbines. The application also seeks to remove Title V avoidance limits established in an earlier construction permit, CP-50000316.
SCDES issued CP-50000316 on Sept. 17, 2025, for 24 permanent natural-gas-fired generators. The agency amended that permit on April 21, 2026, to include 21 temporary generators subject to operating limits. The new draft permit concerns additional equipment and remains separate from the earlier permit decision.
Emissions are estimates, not measured pollution
SCDES’s amended public notice lists the following potential increases in controlled emissions from the proposed project:
- 142 tons per year of particulate matter
- 162 tons per year of nitrogen oxides
- 134 tons per year of carbon monoxide
- 40 tons per year of volatile organic compounds
- 8.5 tons per year of sulfur dioxide
- 7.3 tons per year of hazardous air pollutants
Those figures are permitting estimates for potential controlled emissions from the proposed project. They are not measurements of current pollution and do not establish that the listed amounts will occur.
The notice also lists total potential controlled emissions for the facility, including sources covered by earlier permits. Those totals include 223 tons per year of nitrogen oxides, 202 tons of carbon monoxide, 61 tons of volatile organic compounds and 19.7 tons of hazardous air pollutants, among other pollutants.
What happens next at SCDES
SCDES says permitting staff will review the comments and other materials before issuing a decision. The agency’s project page, updated July 27, says the application remains under review and that there is no current timetable for a decision.
If the draft permit is approved, SCDES says the facility would be a major source for Title V applicability purposes. Valara would then have to submit a Part 70 operating-permit application within 12 months after becoming subject to South Carolina’s Title V Operating Permit Program.
The expired comment period does not mean the permit was approved. SCDES has not announced a final permit decision, and the agency says comments received during the public-comment period will be reviewed and considered before a permit decision is made.
A separate utility-siting dispute is pending
The air-permit review is running alongside a separate proceeding before the Public Service Commission of South Carolina. PSC docket 2026-158-E was filed June 26 by Concerned Citizens of Spartanburg County and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy against Valara Holdings, LLC.
In their petition, the organizations allege that Valara is constructing a 450-megawatt natural-gas-fired power plant to supply the data center. They ask the PSC to rule that the facility is a “major utility facility” under South Carolina’s Utility Facility Siting and Environmental Protection Act.
The petitioners argue that a facility exceeding the law’s 75-megawatt threshold requires a certificate of environmental compatibility and public convenience and necessity before construction can continue. That is the petitioners’ legal position, not a final ruling by the commission. The PSC case remains pending.
The PSC proceeding addresses whether state utility-siting approval is required. It is distinct from SCDES’s question of whether the proposed equipment can receive an air-construction permit under state and federal air-quality requirements. A separate county land-use lawsuit also challenges how the broader project was reviewed locally.
What South Carolina residents should watch
The next consequential step is SCDES’s eventual decision on CP-50000422. The agency must consider comments submitted by the July 31 deadline, but it has not said when that review will end.
Residents also can watch the PSC docket for additional filings, hearings or an order addressing the petitioners’ request for a declaratory ruling and possible action to halt construction pending the utility-siting question. Neither the air permit nor the requested certificate has been finally decided in the records identified here.
Sources
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