As South Carolina Prepares for the 2027 Legislative Session, SCETA Launches Statewide Public Listening Initiative™
- 5 hours ago
- 3 min read
Listening First. Informing Policy. Building Trust.
Charleston, South Carolina – The state is entering a pivotal period in technology policy. During the 2026 legislative session, lawmakers considered proposals addressing digital assets, artificial intelligence, data centers, electric infrastructure, and the technologies needed to support the state's rapidly evolving digital economy.
Public hearings on Senator Tom Davis' S.867, addressing large-scale data center development, highlighted both the opportunities and concerns surrounding AI infrastructure. Earlier in the session, enactment of the South Carolina Financial Freedom Act (S.163) established an important framework for digital assets and financial innovation.
Read the full report and explore the ASCENDSC framework:
Those debates demonstrated that South Carolina is no longer discussing isolated technologies. The state is laying the foundation for a broader digital economy.
National surveys increasingly show that Americans are not rejecting technology. They are asking for greater transparency, accountability, and trustworthy governance as AI becomes part of everyday life. South Carolina has an opportunity to lead by building that trust through thoughtful public policy.
Based on SCETA's internal policy scorecard, enactment of S.163 moved South Carolina into the nation's Top 10 states for digital asset policy by creating a modern framework for digital asset guardrails and financial innovation. SCETA believes the next step is applying that same thoughtful, standards-based approach to artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, digital rights, and the emerging compute economy.
Why SCETA Started the Public Listening Initiative™
Over the past year, South Carolina has become part of a broader regional conversation taking place throughout the Southeast. Communities are weighing proposals involving artificial intelligence, data centers, electric generation, transmission infrastructure, and digital technologies while balancing legitimate concerns about electric rates, water resources, property rights, environmental stewardship, privacy, and local economic development.
SCETA participated in many of those discussions during the 2026 legislative session, including testimony before the South Carolina Senate on S.867 and support for enactment of S.163. Those experiences reinforced a simple observation: the public conversation had become increasingly polarized, yet citizens were often presented with conclusions before being invited into the discussion.
Rather than beginning with advocacy, SCETA chose to begin with listening.
That decision became the foundation for the SCETA Public Listening Initiative™.
Instead of asking South Carolinians whether they support or oppose a particular project, the initiative asks a broader question:“What principles should guide South Carolina's digital future?”
Over several weeks, SCETA conducted one of the most extensive grassroots public listening efforts—to our knowledge— undertaken by a South Carolina technology policy and industry association on artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, digital rights, energy, privacy, and economic development.
46,500+ content views
17,100+ unique viewers
377+ public interactions
30+ South Carolina community group conversations
“Technology policy increasingly affects every South Carolinian,” said Dennis Fassuliotis, President of SCETA. “Before recommending legislation or advocating specific policies, we believed it was important to understand what citizens were actually asking. The result was a call for transparency, accountability, constitutional protections, and consistent standards.”
What South Carolinians Told Us
The report identifies several recurring themes.
Who pays for new infrastructure?
How are existing ratepayers protected?
How are water resources managed?
How are private property rights respected?
What benefits remain in local communities?
How should privacy and digital rights be protected?
According to SCETA, these conversations suggest that most South Carolinians are not asking policymakers to choose between economic development and community values. Instead, they are asking for clear, transparent standards that apply fairly to everyone.
Those findings reinforce SCETA's SCALE™ Framework, which promotes common principles for:
Siting & Zoning
Cost Causation
Autonomous, Behind the Meter Energy
Load Flexibility & Demand Response
Environmental Stewardship
The Public Listening Initiative™ was not created to advocate for or against any specific project. It was created to identify the principles South Carolinians expect to see applied consistently as the state's digital economy continues to evolve.
Looking Ahead
SCETA intends for the Public Listening Initiative™ to become an ongoing resource for policymakers, regulators, local governments, educators, industry leaders, and citizens.
Future reports will examine:
Digital Rights
Artificial Intelligence
Energy Policy
Cybersecurity
Workforce Development
Financial Technology
The Compute Economy
Responsible Infrastructure
The findings will also inform Public Service Commission proceedings, legislative briefings, technical reviews, local government outreach, national policy discussions, and will be featured at the ASCENDSC™ Forum on September 17, 2026.
SCETA believes South Carolina has an opportunity not simply to compete for investment, but to become a national model for how technology policy is developed through transparency, public engagement, and evidence-based decision-making.
As South Carolina prepares for the 2027 legislative session, SCETA will continue listening before recommending policy.
Comments