Cielo Digital Infrastructure data center, Gaffney, South Carolina

Cielo Digital Infrastructure, a Texas data center developer, plans a $2.1 billion campus of four buildings at 000 Ford Road in Gaffney, Cherokee County, South Carolina, with up to 300 megawatts of power at full build-out. Cherokee County announced the project in June 2025 and its council finalized a tax incentive deal, with the campus expected to open by the end of 2028.

Cielo, founded in 2023 and owned by the Texas investment firm Arroyo Investors, previously developed a campus in Culpeper County, Virginia, that it sold to Edgecore. Ken Moon, director of the county's development board, would not give the size of the tax breaks when the deal was signed, saying "the paperwork has not been finalized."

By the time residents came to the county council to object, in January 2026, the decision had already been made. "The idea that we need a data center in Cherokee County to be on the forefront of progress and growth is nonsense," said resident Courtney Smith, who also pointed to a 16% rise in her property taxes.

Moon said the Ford Road project is a data storage center, not an energy-intensive AI facility, and that it would fund about a third of the county's budget in taxes. "No, absolutely we're not seeking out any more data centers," he said, adding that any future project would have to bring its own power. Gaffney resident Denise Maista has asked for community liaisons so residents who cannot attend meetings learn "what is going on and what can and cannot be done."

No construction has begun on Ford Road, and no further council vote on the project has been reported. Cherokee County Council, which signed the incentive deal, would set terms for any data center project that follows it.