Both chambers of the South Carolina legislature have passed a set of tax breaks for companies that wish to build data centers there in efforts to make the state more competitive in attracting investment-heavy internet-infrastructure projects.

The bill, passed by the House and the Senate, would exempt data center operators from paying sales tax on electricity purchases, if they invest US$50m or more and promise to create at least 25 direct job openings, The Item, a local newspaper, reported.

Ray Jones, board member of the South Carolina Economic Developers Association, told the newspaper that the economy had become more dependent on “the cloud, not necessarily bricks and mortar.”

“Data centers have become very important because they are the cloud,” he said.

The state has only one high-profile data center – a Google facility in Berkeley County – whereas neighboring North Carolina has done much better in establishing itself within the new digital economy.

Facebook, Apple, AT&T, Disney, IBM, American Express and Google are all examples of companies that have chosen to build data centers in North Carolina. The South Carolina tax breaks are aimed at competing for such projects better.

The Item quoted South Carolina representative Phyllis Henderson saying the state stood to attract a major data center build if the tax breaks are enacted.

“There is a big [data center] the state feels confident we can land if we get this bill finished up – a big one that is looking somewhere in the Upstate,” Henderson said. The main piece of this legislation is because of North Carolina. We were just losing projects right and left to them.”