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Data center campus · 4000 S. Pine St., Spartanburg (former Kohler plant), Spartanburg County, South Carolina

Valara data center (NorthMark, former Kohler plant)

Under construction as of Oct. 6, 2026

NorthMark Strategies, through Valara Holdings, is converting a former Kohler plant southeast of Spartanburg into a $2.8 billion computing center powered by its own natural gas generators and turbines, now permitted at about 457 MW; state regulators and a circuit judge have ruled against challenges brought by citizen and environmental groups. Also known as: Project Moc-1, Valara Holdings.

Cite← South Carolina data centers
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Power457MW reported · record
Site300acres

Who is behind it

ProjectValara data center (NorthMark, former Kohler plant)Also: Project Moc-1, Valara Holdings
Developer and teamNorthMark Strategies (through Valara Holdings)
End userNot found in the recordsNot yet named in any record or credited report we have found.

The record, newest first

  1. FOX Carolina reported that Circuit Judge J. Derham Cole Jr. dismissed the citizens group's lawsuit, finding it lacked standing and had not first appealed to the county Board of Zoning Appeals, and calling the challenge to the second, still-pending permit premature. (FOX Carolina (WHNS), Oct. 6, 2026)

  2. The Southern Environmental Law Center, for Concerned Citizens of Spartanburg County and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, asked the commission to reconsider its Sept. 14 final order. (Southern Environmental Law Center, Sept. 24, 2026)

  3. The state Department of Environmental Services issued an air permit for 11 natural gas turbines adding 408 MW, reported as bringing permitted generation to 457 MW. (The Post and Courier, Sept. 21, 2026)

  4. The judge heard arguments on the request to pause construction and took it under advisement. (FOX Carolina (WHNS), Oct. 6, 2026; The Post and Courier, Sept. 21, 2026)

  5. The Public Service Commission ruled that the state Siting Act (Utility Facility and Environmental Protection Act) does not apply because the plant will not export power to the grid; Valara said the vote was unanimous, and Commissioner David Britt recused himself. (SC Daily Gazette, Aug. 27, 2026)

  6. The Southern Environmental Law Center sued in Spartanburg County for a citizens group, arguing the county wrongly reviewed the project as a minor land development and asking that construction be paused; these are the group's arguments, which the court later dismissed on procedural grounds. (SC Daily Gazette, Aug. 27, 2026; FOX Carolina (WHNS), Oct. 6, 2026)

  7. Citizen and environmental groups petitioned the Public Service Commission to review the on-site power plant under the Siting Act and to halt construction. (SC Daily Gazette, Aug. 27, 2026; Southern Environmental Law Center, Sept. 24, 2026)

  8. Valara asked the state Department of Environmental Services to add five 17 MW and six 54 MW gas turbines to its 24 permitted 2 MW generators, for a total of about 450 MW. (SC Daily Gazette, Aug. 27, 2026; SC Daily Gazette, June 26, 2026; The Post and Courier, May 20, 2026)

  9. The county approved the first land development permit to redevelop the Kohler plant. (FOX Carolina (WHNS), Oct. 6, 2026)

  10. Spartanburg County Council unanimously gave second reading to the incentive package and NorthMark was named as the developer. (The Post and Courier, April 21, 2025)

  11. A $2.8 billion self-powered computing center, code-named Project Moc-1, was proposed with a 40-year 4% fee-in-lieu-of-tax deal and special source credits. (SC Daily Gazette, March 4, 2025)

Conflicts and open questions

  • Total capacity reported as 450, 457 and 460 MW in different sources.
  • The commission ruled on Aug. 27, 2026; the groups' filing refers to the final written order issued Sept. 14.
  • Spartanburg County's 2026 data center moratorium does not apply to this project, which was already underway.
  • Coordinates approximate, S. Pine Street south of Spartanburg.
  • Caveat: court events are described from news reporting and the Southern Environmental Law Center's own releases; SignalData has not opened the circuit court filings or order. The groups' request that the Public Service Commission reconsider its ruling was pending in the sources reviewed. Claims in the lawsuit and the petition are the groups' arguments, not findings.

The full record

Status note
Construction is underway; on Oct. 6, 2026, a circuit judge dismissed a citizens group's challenge to the county's land development permits, and a second permit application was still pending.
Power note
Permitted on-site natural gas generation: 48 MW from generators first permitted plus 408 MW from 11 turbines in a Sept. 18, 2026 DES air permit, reported as 457 MW total (the parts sum to 456); the company told regulators it will not always run at full output.
Evidence
News reports; primary records not yet obtained
Size class
50 MW or more (tracker scope)
Map position approximate, from the reported address or area. Updated Oct. 17, 2026.