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South Carolina Committee Hears Proposal For Allowing Large Loads To Take Competitive Supply, Under Data Center Bill
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During a hearing on bill S. 867, which addresses various data center issues including power but which does not currently include any competitive supply provision (apart from self-generation), the South Carolina Senate Subcommittee on Agriculture and Natural Resources heard testimony from NRG Energy, the Retail Energy Advancement League, and other competitive supply advocates in favor of a "bring your own power" provision that could be added to S. 867, which would allow data centers to source generation supply on a competitive basis
A separate bill (S. 878) which would allow large users to take competitive electric supply (with provisions similar to bills backed by REAL under consideration in several states) was not heard at the subcommittee hearing today, but Senators asked witnesses about whether provisions of S. 878 could be added or would be consistent with the data center bill S. 867.
In brief, S. 878 would allow competitive electric supply for customers 100 kW and over (including through aggregation of multiple delivery points for the same customer)
Senator Michael Johnson, in questioning witnesses about the interaction of the data center bill and competitive supply policies, stressed that S. 867, "is not a retail choice bill", but was interested in whether competitive supply generally for large users was feasible under the state's current system, with a witness for NRG answering affirmatively, with NRG's witness also noting that protections for ratepayers can be put in place
At the conclusion of the hearing, no amendment to S. 867 allowing competitive supply or bring your own power was adopted, and the bill was left pending. Committee leadership indicated that an updated outline of the bill reflecting various proposals from witnesses would be drafted and circulated in the coming weeks
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March 10, 2026
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Copyright 2026 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
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