North Carolina Grapples with Surge of Data Centers; Communities Fight Back

Evidence is mounting that the data center boom may have reached a political tipping point in North Carolina.

Election Day news that Republican primary voters in deep-red Stokes County decisively rejected incumbent county commissioners who approved rezoning for a massive new data center may be just the beginning. 

Stokes County Data Center

For starters, the citizens of Stokes County have not given up in their opposition to the data center approval there. Instead, last week attorneys for multiple community groups and impacted Stokes residents filed suit to challenge that rezoning in state court. “Community groups and Walnut Cove area residents filed a lawsuit today in an effort to protect a way of life that has defined the Dan River corridor for generations — one built around farms, forests, and rural communities, that is now threatened by the county’s decision to allow an enormous, loud, polluting, and resource-intensive AI data center development to move forward,” reads the March 12 news release from the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC). SELC along with the Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) represent the plaintiffs in the case. 

The lawsuit contends that Stokes County Commissioners never properly noticed the zoning changes, failed to meaningfully assess impacts on noise, air quality, water resources, and historic sites, and that it also relied upon inflated and unsupported estimates of additional local tax revenue benefits. 

Across the State

Beyond Stokes County, debate over data center development in North Carolina is heating up in locations across much of the state. The Town of Apex in Wake County is preparing to pass a one-year moratorium for data centers after public opposition caused one proposed project developer to withdraw its proposal. 

Chatham County already approved in February a similar one-year moratorium on the permitting of data centers. “This temporary moratorium allows us the time we need to properly investigate and plan ahead,” said Amanda Robertson, Chair of the Chatham County Board of Commissioners. “Our goal is to protect residents, natural resources, and quality of life while we develop clear, thoughtful standards that reflect today’s technologies and align with the County’s long-term vision.” 

New data center rezoning requests are beginning to generate controversy and opposition in other counties as well.

Across the Country

North Carolina appears to be joining a national trend, in which more states and local governments around the nation are putting a hold on the push for rapid development of resource-draining massive data centers. The moratoriums provide space in which to review those impacts on resources and the affordability of electricity for households and communities, and then design rules that would require new data centers to be designed and operate within the bounds of acceptable community impacts. 

If you want insight into how and why to oppose new data centers in your community, see this report from SELC.

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