SCETA Files Comments in PSC Generic Large Load Docket
- 30 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Building on S.163 and Laying Groundwork for 2027 Legislation
On July 24, 2026, the South Carolina Emerging Tech Association (SCETA) submitted formal comments in Docket No. 2026-138-E, the Public Service Commission’s new generic docket on large load customers.
Our comments urge the Commission to adopt a performance-based regulatory framework that builds directly on the recently enacted S.163. That legislation established critical grid-impact evaluation requirements for large-load users, particularly in the digital asset sector. SCETA believes this docket is now the primary venue to turn those statutory principles into practical tariff design and performance standards.
Key recommendations in our filing include:
• Incentivizing hybrid digital asset operations that can deliver rapid demand response and meaningful grid flexibility
• Developing a special tariff tailored to the price sensitivity of digital loads
• Encouraging industrial-scale battery storage to support reliability during demand response events
• Prioritizing strategic energy and compute development sites, with emphasis on brownfield locations and co-located infrastructure
• Supporting integrated approaches, such as agrivoltaics, that deliver both grid benefits and rural economic value
These recommendations are also intended to create practical groundwork for two companion bills SCETA is developing for the January 2027 legislative session:
1. The Strategic Energy and Compute Development Sites Act
2. A modernized Data Center Development Act
By advancing clear performance metrics and cost-causation principles now, the Commission can help ensure that future legislation and regulatory policy work together to protect ratepayers while positioning South Carolina to compete for responsible digital infrastructure investment.
Our comments further draw on findings from the SCETA Public Listening Initiative. South Carolinians consistently focused on practical questions — who pays, will existing ratepayers be protected, how will water and community impacts be managed, and will projects operate transparently — rather than expressing blanket opposition to digital infrastructure.
SCETA’s approach remains grounded in our SCALE™ framework: cost causation, system reliability, demand response capability, environmental stewardship, transparency, and meaningful community accountability.
We look forward to constructive engagement with the Commission, utilities, and other stakeholders as this important docket moves forward.
Comments