South Carolina editorial roundup: Saturday, April 27, 2024

The Post and Courier

April 23

If S.C. is running out of power, we shouldn't be paying data centers to move here

The proposal to eliminate South Carolina's still-new consumer protections and greenlight a massive new natural gas plant near Canadys has generated counter calls by environmentalists and ratepayer advocates to target one of the state's biggest emerging energy hogs: computer data centers.

First former PSC Commissioner Tom Ervin and now the S.C. Small Business Chamber of Commerce are calling on lawmakers to stop allowing Google and other companies to build new data centers, while other opponents of the S.C. Energy Security Act silently or not-so-silently applaud.

As appealing as that sounds, though, we're not sure it's appropriate for the state or local communities to put a moratorium on a particular kind of business just because it uses a lot of electricity, or even a lot of water, both of which data centers do while adding little new employment.

What is definitely appropriate, though, is to stop using public resources to entice them to move to our state. Even Senate Republican Leader Shane Massey took up that cause last week, telling his fellow senators "I don't know why we are recruiting data centers that are just electricity hogs, that are not creating a lot of jobs."

Yet other legislators seem determined not only to keep the current incentives in place, but also to add more.

South Carolina already has at least nine large data centers and four more in the works, largely as a result of state and local economic incentives. The S.C. Daily Gazette reports that those four under development are projected to use 800 megawatts of power daily; that's about the same amount of electricity it takes to power 500,000 of South Carolina's 2.4 million homes. And the data centers' appetite is only growing; the Gazette says they consumed 4% of electricity nationally in 2022 and are expected to consume 6% by 2026.

Last year, Google agreed to build a $510 million data center near Summerville after the Dorchester County Council voted to slash its property tax rates to 4% for at least four decades and exempt the company from the reassessment that usually raises the taxable value of property every five years.

In addition, Dominion South Carolina agreed to provide discounted electricity to the data center. That deal, which the S.C. Public Service Commission approved in February, gives Google a special "economic development rider" rate of 6 cents for every kilowatt hour, compared to 14 cents for residential customers.

And those deals came on top of a law the Legislature passed back in 2012 to exempt large data centers from sales taxes on electricity as well as computer equipment, hardware and software.

Last week, as calls for outlawing new data center subsidies or even the centers themselves were mounting, the Senate Finance Committee amended an economic incentives bill to expand that sales tax exemption, so it covers other businesses related to data centers. And it did so without a single person explaining or asking why the state should give this additional tax benefit to data centers.

Also last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee stripped a provision out of H.5118, the House-passed utility bill, that would have prohibited the PSC from granting lower rates to data centers like the one Dominion gave to Google's Summerville center.

We understand why cash-strapped counties would be tempted to lure data centers, which provide few jobs but pay huge property taxes, even after the huge discounts the counties hand out.

And we certainly understand why Dominion would want to help recruit companies that are going to drink up so much electricity: The main way investor-owned utilities make their guaranteed profits is by building new power plants.

But it's disingenuous to participate in such deals at the same time the utility is telling our Legislature it has to roll back essential consumer ratepayer protections to rush through the construction of a new mega-power plant or else the lights will go out. And it's irresponsible for counties or publicly owned utilities to participate unless they have unlimited energy and simply can't foresee a time when the data centers would force utilities to build expensive new capacity.

Data centers aren't the only reason utility executives and their legislative supporters say we need to fast track legislation to speed up construction of new power plants: South Carolina led the nation in population growth last year, and we keep breaking records for huge new manufacturers. But they are a huge part of the energy projections.

Under those circumstances, it seems nearly criminal that a utility would grant a special rate to data centers - or that the PSC would allow it. It seems nearly criminal too that the Legislature would allow the state or even local governments to offer incentives to lure new centers here to use up our electricity, and our water.

Whatever happens with the larger utility bill, the Legislature needs to put an end to the enticements for data centers. That means stripping the expanded sales tax exemption out of H.4087 - if not removing the existing tax exemption. It means reviving the House-passed ban on cut-rate electricity for data centers - either as part of passing H.5118 or, if that's not going to happen this year, in stand-alone legislation. And as Sen. Massey suggested, it means putting an end to the legislatively authorized local incentives that counties are giving data centers, to the detriment of our entire state.

Times and Democrat

April 20

Look for more measures to stop security breaches

Your personal information has never been more at risk.

The number of reported data security breaches in the U.S. rose to a record 3,205 in 2023, up 78% from 2022 and 72% from the previous high-water mark in 2021, according to the nonprofit Identity Theft Resource Center. Trends are similar in other parts of the world.

The number of South Carolina consumers impacted by security breaches more than tripled over the past year. During 2023, 139 businesses reported breaches to the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs.

Those breaches affected 3,259,740 South Carolina consumers. That's a dramatic climb compared to 2022 when 86 businesses reported breaches to SCDCA, affecting 976,427 consumers.

During 2023, financial businesses reported the most breaches (62), impacting 1,534,256 consumers. The health industry was the second-largest-reporting category (32), with 710,009 consumers impacted. Hospitality businesses reported far fewer breaches (5), but those breaches impacted 778,891 South Carolina consumers.

A business must let South Carolina residents know when their personal information is breached. When the breach affects more than 1,000 residents, the business must give SCDCA a copy of the notice sent to those residents. Notices received by SCDCA are posted on the department's website.

SCDCA encourages consumers receiving a security breach notice to take these steps:

Protect impacted accounts by changing your password right away and turning on multi-factor authentication. Passwords should be unique to each account and at least 16 characters long with mixed-case letters, numbers and symbols. Using multi-factor authentication will add an extra step (like a text message code or facial recognition) to your login process, making it more secure.

Closely monitor your credit report and financial statements/accounts. Check all monthly statements and account activity or unauthorized purchases/accounts and suspicious items.

Consider a fraud alert and security freeze. When you have a fraud alert on your report, a business must verify your identity before it issues credit or services in your name. Contact one of the three major credit reporting agencies to place an alert and contact each of them to place a freeze: Equifax (800) 685-1111, Experian (888) 397-3742 and TransUnion (888) 909-8872.

Nearly everyone will agree that the cybersecurity measures implemented by businesses can be frustrating and time consuming. But with all those out there looking to steal information and assets, look for even more measures to stop them. Sadly, they are necessary.

For more on how to protect your information in the wake of a breach, check out tips on how to avoid identity theft or contact SCDCA's Identity Theft Unit at 800-922-1594. The unit is dedicated to offering consumers tailored guidance on identity theft issues.

Index-Journal

April 20

Senate should end sales tax on feminine hygiene products

Women, you can put the paper down and stop reading or move to another page or article. You already understand the issue and what needs to be done.

Men - especially any who are members of our state's Senate - you need to read this.

The male species has it rather easy in many regards. Men cannot get pregnant, they do not experience actual childbirth and they do not have to deal with a monthly menstrual cycle. Many might not even realize that not all cycles are created equal. Some women and girls can have a period that lasts well more than one week a month. Some experience cycles that are shorter in duration and might even have a somewhat unpredictable schedule.

Young men and adult men you should think about that and imagine if you had to contend with having a menstrual cycle. School-age boys often have easy and free access to condoms when they become sexually active, but many school-age girls do not have ready access to pads and tampons when their cycle begins.

Feminine hygiene products are a necessity, but they are sometimes out of reach, financially, for young women and girls who live in poverty or are in a homeless or safe shelter. Or, frankly, in the event they are caught off guard during school hours and don't have a pad or tampon with them.

Thanks in large part to an organization aptly named The Period Project, which operates in many states and is headquartered in South Carolina, awareness about the need for easy and affordable access to feminine hygiene products has been heightened. Visit periodproject.org for more information and how you can help.

On Wednesday, an all-male Senate subcommittee passed a proposal to remove the sales tax from feminine hygiene products. The measure will now go before the full Senate for a vote. Last year, the House approved the bill, 114-0.

No state or federal agency provides, or discounts, menstrual hygiene products. Some do, however, profit from the sale of feminine hygiene products. Our state imposes a tax on sanitary products at the full 6% state sales tax rate. Yet, as The Period Project notes, South Carolina has a long list of tax-exempt items for the state's tax-free weekend that includes "purses, riding wear, ballet shoes, baby diapers and adult incontinence products" while menstrual hygiene products are not exempt. That's wrong.

If the proposal to eliminate the sales tax is passed, this is but one step in the right direction that our state will take. We incorporated the illustration of access to feminine hygiene products in schools because there is yet another step that needs to be taken. These products should be readily available to female students who might not be able to afford them or, again, who are caught off guard by the onset of their menstrual cycle during school hours. There should be no roadblocks to access.

We are not advocating for completely free feminine hygiene products. Manufacturers are for-profit entities that are entitled to a profit in order to remain in business. We do, however, join The Period Project in advocating for some balance on the playing field when it comes to tax revenue for the state and access for those who cannot afford the products because of circumstances beyond their control.

South Carolina's legislative session is drawing to a close. This matter is now up to the state Senate. Senators, do what is right by passing this proposal.