Project Liberty: How a $2.4 Billion Data Center Deal Slipped Through a Rural County
When secrecy, NDAs, and “economic development” collide with water, power, and local consent, rural communities are left holding the bill.
While residents of rural South Carolina were preparing for a winter storm in late January, something else was happening quietly inside county government.
A vote.
No public campaign.
No clear explanation.
And for many residents, no idea what they were voting on.
By the time most people learned the words “Project Liberty,” the decision had already been made.
A Deal With a Code Name
On January 22, county council members in Marion County approved a massive economic development agreement for what officials later confirmed to be a large-scale data center project, estimated to cost between $2.4 and $2.5 billion.
The proposal was not introduced under the name of the developer.
It was presented under a code name.
Council members acknowledged that a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) restricted what could be publicly discussed before the vote.
Residents interviewed afterward said they had little understanding of what “Project Liberty” actually meant for their county until it was over.
This was first reported by Capital B News, whose coverage focused on secrecy, process, and local concerns — regardless of how different outlets frame the issue culturally or politically.
What matters here is not identity.
It’s mechanism.
The Mechanism: How These Deals Work
This deal followed a familiar national pattern:
A code-named project
An NDA limiting public disclosure
A rushed or low-visibility vote
A tax incentive package
Big promises, small guarantees
In this case, Marion County approved a Fee-In-Lieu-Of-Tax (FILOT) agreement — a tool commonly used to attract large industrial projects by reducing long-term tax obligations for developers.
Supporters argue these agreements bring desperately needed revenue.
Critics argue they lock counties into decades-long commitments while shifting infrastructure and resource costs onto residents.
Both things can be true.
But transparency is not optional.
The Jobs Question
One of the first questions residents asked after learning the scope of the project was simple:
How many jobs does this actually create?
According to reporting and county statements, the answer appears to be around 20 permanent jobs once construction is complete.
That number matters.
Data centers are capital-intensive, not labor-intensive. They require massive upfront investment, but relatively few long-term employees compared to manufacturing, agriculture, or logistics.
For a project measured in billions, that imbalance deserves scrutiny.
Water and Power: The Real Stakes
The real footprint of a data center is not measured in acres or buildings.
It’s measured in water and electricity.
County officials stated that the proposed facility would use approximately 7,175 gallons of water per day per building, using a “closed-loop” cooling system.
But residents raised questions that remain unanswered:
Is that average or peak usage?
What happens during drought restrictions?
Who bears the risk if groundwater levels decline?
What upgrades to the electrical grid are required — and who pays?
These questions are not hypothetical.
Across the country, data centers are colliding with rural water systems, agricultural users, and aging electrical infrastructure.
Once built, these facilities are politically difficult to constrain.
Why Rural Counties Are Targeted
This story matters far beyond Marion County.
Rural communities are increasingly attractive to large infrastructure developers because they offer:
Lower land costs
Fewer regulatory layers
Smaller news ecosystems
Greater reliance on economic development authorities
Communities eager — sometimes desperate — for investment
That combination creates pressure to move fast and ask questions later.
Secrecy is often justified as “competitive necessity.”
But democracy doesn’t pause for NDAs.
The Precedent Problem
Once a county sets the precedent that:
Code-named projects are acceptable
NDAs override public understanding
Votes can happen before public digestion
…it becomes easier the next time.
And the next.
South Carolina is already seeing similar fights elsewhere, including zoning and land-use challenges tied to data center development in other rural counties.
This is not a one-off.
It’s a playbook.
SUBSCRIBER SECTION
What follows is for Yanasa TV subscribers only.
This is where we slow down and examine the structure.
1. What a FILOT Actually Means in Practice
Marion County approved a Fee-In-Lieu-of-Tax (FILOT) agreement for Project Liberty.
Here’s what that typically translates to:
Instead of paying normal property taxes, the developer pays a negotiated fee, often based on a reduced assessment value
FILOTs commonly last 20–30 years
During that period, schools, emergency services, and infrastructure do not receive full tax parity
The county is often locked in, even if economic conditions change
A multi-billion-dollar valuation does not mean multi-billion-dollar tax revenue.
In similar South Carolina data center FILOTs:
Effective tax rates can fall to 6–10% of standard commercial property taxation
Revenue projections often assume full build-out — not partial occupancy or phased deployment
If the project underperforms, the public side absorbs the miss.
2. Jobs vs Capital: The Math Doesn’t Pencil Out for Labor
The reported number of ~20 permanent jobs is not an anomaly — it’s standard for hyperscale data centers.
To put that in context:
$2.4 billion ÷ 20 jobs = $120 million per permanent job
Most positions are highly technical, often filled by out-of-county or out-of-state specialists
Local employment impact is concentrated almost entirely in short-term construction
Once operational, the economic multiplier collapses.
This matters because FILOT justifications are often sold politically as job creators, when in reality they are infrastructure plays, not employment engines.
3. Water Use: The Number That Sounds Small (Until It Isn’t)
County officials cited approximately 7,175 gallons per day per building, using closed-loop cooling.
Here’s what subscribers should understand:
“Per day” figures are typically average operating estimates
Peak loads during heat events can be significantly higher
Closed-loop systems still require make-up water due to evaporation and heat loss
What’s missing publicly:
Total number of buildings at full build-out
Source of water (municipal vs groundwater)
Drought restriction hierarchy (who gets cut first)
In rural systems, data centers often receive priority allocations once permitted — agriculture and residential users do not.
That priority is rarely debated before approval.
4. Power Is the Silent Cost Center
Data centers don’t just “use electricity.”
They reshape grids.
A project of this scale typically requires:
Dedicated substations
Transmission upgrades
Guaranteed uptime contracts
Key unanswered questions:
Who pays for substation construction?
Are costs socialized through rate increases?
What happens if demand exceeds projections?
Across the Southeast, utilities have quietly passed infrastructure upgrade costs onto existing ratepayers while marketing data centers as “economic growth.”
This is where rural residents often feel the impact years later, long after the vote.
5. The NDA Problem Isn’t Legal — It’s Democratic
NDAs in economic development are legal.
That’s not the issue.
The issue is timing and scope.
When:
An NDA prevents meaningful public understanding
A vote occurs before disclosure
Residents learn details only after approval
…the public process becomes ceremonial rather than participatory.
Economic competition does not require civic ignorance.
Other counties delay votes until:
NDAs expire
Developer identities are disclosed
Infrastructure impacts are publicly modeled
Marion County did not.
6. Risk Allocation: Who’s Actually On the Hook?
In deals like this, risk is asymmetrical:
Developer risks:
Market demand
Operating efficiency
Expansion timing
County risks:
Water system strain
Grid reliability
Infrastructure maintenance
Opportunity cost (what else could have gone there)
If the developer scales down or pauses expansion, the county still carries the long-term system impacts.
That imbalance is the core issue — not whether development is “good” or “bad.”
7. Why This Case Matters Nationally
Project Liberty follows the same structural pattern appearing across rural America:
Code names
NDAs
Tax abatements
Minimal jobs
High resource draw
Long-term public exposure
Once a county proves it will approve deals this way, it becomes a target jurisdiction.
That’s why this story matters beyond South Carolina.
What Subscribers Should Watch Next
Developer identity disclosure
Amendments to the FILOT
Utility commission filings
Water allocation permits
Expansion phases not discussed publicly
Yanasa will track those documents as they surface.
Because the real story isn’t the vote.
It’s everything that happens after.