Google Moncks Corner data center, Moncks Corner, South Carolina

Google's data center campus in the Mount Holly Commerce Park at Moncks Corner, Berkeley County, South Carolina, was established in 2007, the company's first in the state. In September 2024 Google said it would invest $1.3 billion to expand the Berkeley County campus, and in October 2025 it announced $9 billion more for its South Carolina data centers, to be spent in 2026 and 2027 on the Berkeley County expansion and two new campuses under construction in neighboring Dorchester County.

The campus is best known locally for a fight over water. In 2016 Google applied to triple its permitted withdrawal from the Middendorf Aquifer, from 183 million to 549 million gallons a year to cool servers, then withdrew the request after strong opposition. It applied again in February 2019. The aquifer, about 1,600 feet down, also supplies Mount Pleasant, Sullivan's Island and Isle of Palms. "This aquifer is ... a primary source of water supply not only to 80,000 citizens of Mount Pleasant but also the surrounding Charleston County area," said Mount Pleasant town councilman Mark Smith, who called the plan "a threat to public health and safety." A regional Council of Governments advisory committee recommended denial, but the state Department of Health and Environmental Control approved the 549-million-gallon permit in October 2019.

"Our customers ask me all the time, why would DHEC take groundwater away from the citizens of Mount Pleasant and give it to Google to cool computers. Unfortunately, I don't have a good answer for that," said Clay Duffie, general manager of Mount Pleasant Waterworks, whose own groundwater draw faced a deep proposed cut. The state required Google to reduce its regular groundwater demand, keep it for peak use or backup, and develop other sources. Google also buys surface water from Berkeley County Water and Sanitation for cooling, but has refused to say how much, calling it a trade secret, according to the Coastal Conservation League. Google's facilities manager, Paul Carff, said the permit would build the data center's sustainability and that the company is committed to responsible water stewardship.