One of Google’s recent checks in the Lowcountry was not for servers. The company has given Berkeley Electric Cooperative a $500,000 grant to fix up homes, ABC News 4 reported Aug. 13.

The money will pay for pre-weatherization and health and safety improvements to local homes, with Berkeley Electric’s energy auditors and the nonprofit Hope Repair administering it, according to the station. It follows a $250,000 Google grant in 2025 that paid for upgrades to 44 Lowcountry households, upgrades officials said would save each household hundreds of dollars a year in energy costs.

“Google is grateful to be part of the Berkeley County community, and for the opportunity to support initiatives that increase local resiliency,” said Blan Holman, Google’s South Carolina energy lead, according to ABC News 4.

“When we combine our resources, expertise and reach to reduce energy costs and improve living conditions for those who need it most, it enables us to make a more significant impact and a brighter future for all,” said Mike Fuller, president and CEO of Berkeley Electric.

Three campuses, $9 billion

The grant comes as Google expands its data center footprint in the region. On Oct. 13, 2025, the company said it would invest $9 billion in South Carolina by 2027 to expand its Berkeley County data center campus and continue building two new campuses in Dorchester County, Data Center Dynamics reported. Google also said it would train more than 160 electrical apprentices, ABC News 4 reported.

That pledge built on a $3.3 billion plan announced in September 2024: $2 billion and 200 operational jobs for the two Dorchester County campuses and $1.3 billion to expand the Berkeley County campus, according to the S.C. Department of Commerce.

The Berkeley County operation, in Mount Holly Commerce Park in Moncks Corner, was established in 2007 and was Google’s first in South Carolina, the Commerce Department said.

The Dorchester County sites are in the Pine Hill Business Campus in Ridgeville and the Winding Woods Commerce Park in St. George, according to the Commerce Department. The Ridgeville campus covers 230 acres at 1055 Research Center Drive, and Google acquired 206 acres in Winding Woods in 2024, Data Center Dynamics reported. Google used aliases for the projects, including Project Dawson in Ridgeville and Project Evergreen in St. George, according to the trade publication.

“Google’s continued investment in South Carolina strengthens our position as a national leader in technology and innovation,” Gov. Henry McMaster said when the $9 billion plan was announced, according to ABC News 4.

Questions in St. George

On May 28, Google held a public meeting for residents in the gym at St. George Middle School, ABC News 4 reported. Google said the work was on schedule and that it expected portions of the two data centers to be operational later this year, with construction continuing over the next couple of years, according to the station. In mid-October, Google’s data center locations website still listed its Dorchester County site as in development.

“We’re here to be more transparent, to really explain how we’re going to grow,” said Lilyn Hester, Google’s community and workforce development representative, according to ABC News 4.

Water and power use were among residents’ biggest questions, the station reported. Hester said the sites would draw water from Lake Marion rather than groundwater and that Google pays for its own energy.

“We are not relying on an aquifer to get our water, so we are paying for the water that we use for the site,” Hester said, according to the station.

Others raised traffic and flooding. “Because we already have a flooding issue. And then with them coming in, they’re adding more to that flooding problem,” St. George resident George Felder told ABC News 4.

Google has said the Dorchester County data centers are expected to create more than 200 full-time jobs, and representatives said they want to hire locally, the station reported. Hester said Google receives tax incentives and that part of its agreement includes a tax revenue payment to the county starting in 2027, according to ABC News 4.

Power demand

Google signed a 600-megawatt solar power purchase agreement with EnergyRe in South Carolina in 2025, Data Center Dynamics reported.

Data centers also figure in the state’s power planning. Santee Cooper, the state-owned utility based in Moncks Corner, said in the integrated resource plan its board reviewed Sept. 29 that in-migration, industrial reshoring and data center construction are “reshaping the state and its electrical infrastructure needs.” The plan forecasts winter peak demand 1,250 megawatts higher by 2030 than the utility’s 2023 plan did.

Google representatives said in May that they are planning more events like the one in St. George, according to ABC News 4.