North Carolina Data Center Intel

Recent North Carolina data center news

• Jul 15, 2026

  A Year Later, Trumps OBB Act Caused 468,000 Mostly Green Job Losses, Claims E2 BW Research

  E2 and BW Research have released an analysis claiming that Trump-era clean energy policy reversals and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act caused major project cancellations and job losses in the United States.

  • The report says 216 abandoned projects led to $68.2 billion in foregone capital investment, $48.4 billion in annual operational spending, and 468,000 lost jobs across construction, manufacturing, supply chain, and induced effects.
  • It attributes the fallout to the January 20, 2025 executive order freezing IRA and IIJA disbursements and the OBBA signed on July 4, 2025, and says the lost energy buildout includes about 10 GW solar, 3.75 GW wind, and 9.08 GW battery storage.
  • The article is a commentary-style report summary based on E2/BW Research modeling using IMPLAN and NREL JEDI frameworks, and it references project cancellations involving companies such as GM, Ford-CATL, Toyota, VinFast, Honda, Freyr, Kore Power, Natron, Li-Cycle, NorSun, and Ebon Solar.
• Jul 14, 2026

  The New Large-Load Compact

  The article argues that AI data centers should be treated as active participants in grid planning rather than passive customers.

  • It says FERC’s June 2026 large-load tariff actions directed the six jurisdictional regional grid operators to justify or reform rules for data centers and advanced manufacturing facilities.
  • It also cites Berkeley Lab, ESIG, NERC, and ERCOT as examples and frameworks for reforming interconnection, cost responsibility, flexibility, and resource adequacy; this is commentary and analysis, not a new standalone company announcement.
• Jul 13, 2026

  White House plans new pledge to shield ratepayers from data center related bill hikes - report

  The US government is expected to bring together data center firms and utility companies to announce a voluntary pledge aimed at preventing data center power demand from raising electricity costs for regular ratepayers.

  • The pledge is expected to be announced at an event in the coming weeks; no company names were disclosed for the new pledge, though several major firms are expected to join.
  • The story references earlier Ratepayer Protection Pledge signatories — Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and xAI — and notes that states including Oregon, Oklahoma, Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, and Virginia have adopted or proposed rules making large-load data centers pay for new infrastructure costs.
• Jul 13, 2026

  Tract looks to develop 900MW data center park outside Richmond, Virginia

  Tract has announced a pre-application filing to develop the Tuckahoe Technology Park, an 872-acre master-planned data center campus in Goochland County, Virginia.

  • Filed a pre-application for a conditional use permit (CUP) through VALCO Goochland, LLC for land in the county’s technology overlay district (TOD West).
  • The proposed campus would include 12 buildings, reach 900MW at full build-out, and require more than $3 billion in investment; a community meeting is scheduled for July 23.
  • Tract says it aims to make sites zoned, powered, and shovel-ready for other developers, and county officials said negotiations have been ongoing since late 2023.
• Jul 10, 2026

  NC Ends Data Center Power Tax Break, Keeps Capital Incentives

  North Carolina has announced a budget change narrowing its data center tax incentives by repealing the electricity sales and use tax exemption while preserving exemptions for qualifying equipment and other capital investments.

  • The change was enacted when Gov. Josh Stein signed the state’s 2026 budget; Stein said it “eliminates tax exemptions for data centers’ electricity use.”
  • The North Carolina General Assembly’s Fiscal Research Division said the repeal will raise $21.4 million in General Fund revenue in fiscal year 2026-27, increasing to $28.6 million annually by fiscal year 2030-31.
  • The article quotes Neil Osnato of Persistence Analytics Group on the economics of AI campuses and Dan Diorio of the Data Center Coalition on preserving certainty for future investment.
  • It also notes pending legislation, Senate Bill 730 (Ratepayer Protection Act), which would require special utility service agreements for qualifying large-load customers and add requirements for future data center development.
• Jul 8, 2026

  Patented: Topgolf’s Newest Award and More Inventions Across North Texas

  Dallas Invents has reported a weekly roundup of patents granted in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, highlighting Topgolf’s new patent among other local assignees and inventors.

  • Topgolf International, Inc. received U.S. Patent No. 12649095 for a Galton configuration in golf ball receiving apparatus and systems that uses RFID tags and an antenna reader to identify golf balls while avoiding jams.
  • The article is a news roundup/commentary on patent activity, not a first-time corporate announcement; it also lists other grants to entities including Texas Instruments, Toyota, Samsung, Bank of America, Citibank, USAA, Halliburton, and Akamai.
• Jul 6, 2026 · Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

  The Data Center Water Problem Is Soluble

  ITIF has published a policy report arguing that data center water use can be managed through state-led regulation, standardized disclosure, watershed-based review, and targeted federal support.

  • The report says states should require facility-level water disclosures, use watershed-specific performance standards, and establish joint water-energy review for large data center loads.
  • It also recommends federal action on standardized metrics, procurement, and R&D rather than a national water mandate; examples cited include Nvidia Rubin liquid cooling and Microsoft zero-water cooling designs.
• Jul 3, 2026

  New Jersey lawmakers pass bill to establish large load data center tariff

  New Jersey lawmakers have passed a bill directing the state’s Board of Public Utilities to create a dedicated data center tariff for facilities of 50MW or more. The bill is now headed to Governor Mikie Sherrill for final approval.

  • The bill applies to existing and new facilities, lowers the threshold from 100MW to 50MW, and aggregates sites under common ownership or on contiguous sites as one large data center.
  • It requires projects to show they are not proposed elsewhere, provide financial guarantees covering at least 85% of requested service for 10 years, commit to demand response and flexibility programs, and be curtailed before residential customers during grid emergencies; it also prioritizes interconnection for data centers bringing clean generation or storage.
  • The article also notes related actions in other states, including a new Oregon rate class, and laws or proposals in Oklahoma, Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, and Virginia.
• Jun 29, 2026

  AI’s Duplicate Demand Problem Drives Grids to Commitment-First Planning

  FERC has initiated a pending rulemaking (RM26-4-000) exploring “commitment-first” planning for large loads to prevent inflated demand forecasts driven by speculative data center interconnection requests.

  • Main announcement/action: Google has proposed a Capacity Commitment Framework that would require meaningful commercial commitments (examples: long-term service agreements, minimum demand charges, upfront collateral, withdrawal penalties) before large-load requests influence long-term transmission planning; major cloud/AI firms (Amazon, Microsoft, OpenAI) support maturity/commitment-based approaches and coordinated generation-load studies.
  • Background and details: Regional reforms already in practice include ERCOT’s Batch Zero credibility test, SPP’s HILLGA framework, and PJM large-load proceedings; alternative proposals include NRG Energy’s open seasons for transmission capacity and state-level jurisdictional challenges (e.g., North Carolina urging preservation of the Federal Power Act’s jurisdictional line; Maryland regulators contesting PJM cost-allocation tied to AI-driven load growth).
• Jun 26, 2026

  The Carolinas May Hold a Critical Resource for AI Data Centers

  The US Geological Survey has published an assessment estimating substantial undiscovered lithium resources in the southern Appalachian region, concentrated in North and South Carolina.

  • Key announcement: The USGS study estimates a median recoverable undiscovered resource of 1.43 million metric tons of lithium oxide in the southern Appalachian region, with North and South Carolina likely hosting most deposits; the report complements known resources (the identified Carolina Lithium and Kings Mountain deposits are estimated at 1.6 million metric tons of lithium oxide).
  • Background and implementation details: The assessment used geological mapping, geochemistry, geophysics, and probabilistic modeling; Albemarle Corporation is seeking permits to restart and expand the Kings Mountain hard-rock lithium site (previously idled in the early 1990s). Utilities and stakeholders note the resource could support battery energy storage systems (BESS) to meet rising electricity demand from data centers, but near-term constraints include manufacturing capacity, refining, economics, skilled labor, and grid interconnection processes.