Alamance County commissioner urges rules before data center arrives

Pam Thompson is pressing Alamance County commissioners to decide now whether data centers should face new rules, or even a temporary moratorium, before a project lands in the county. Her concern centers on what a large facility would mean for nearby residents: heavy power demand, major water use and the low-frequency noise that often follows the industry.

The county does not have traditional zoning in its unincorporated areas, which leaves rural land outside Burlington, Graham, Mebane, Elon, Haw River, Swepsonville and Green Level without countywide zoning districts. Development there is still governed by building permits, septic and well rules, watershed and floodplain standards, subdivision regulations and other county, state and federal requirements. Thompson’s warning is that those looser rural rules could make some parts of Alamance easier targets.

House Bill 1063 would require preconstruction disclosure to the North Carolina Utilities Commission, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and affected local governments, including projected peak electricity demand, annual electricity consumption, annual water consumption, cooling technologies and on-site clean generation. The bill would also create certification requirements for large data centers and include protections intended to keep other members of the public from absorbing higher utility costs.

Thompson said 93 data centers are already built or proposed in North Carolina, and the statewide total is closer to 100. Gov. Josh Stein has separately proposed phasing out the state’s data-center tax incentives, arguing that the current exemptions have no sunset date and could cost taxpayers much more as more projects are added. The N.C. Department of Commerce estimated the state could forgo between $1.5 billion and $2.3 billion during construction and about $450 million annually afterward if all proposed data centers are built.

Alamance County is weighing its options as other North Carolina governments have already moved. Apex moved toward a one-year moratorium in March 2026 after a proposed 300-megawatt project was withdrawn. Charlotte City Council approved a 150-day moratorium on June 8, 2026, that runs until Nov. 5, 2026, saying staff needed time to assess infrastructure capacity, noise impacts and other environmental concerns. Davie County approved a one-year moratorium on July 7, 2026, and Chatham County has also used a pause to study best practices and impacts.