North Carolina Data Center Intel

Recent North Carolina data center news

• Jun 24, 2026

  Construction employment rises in 30 states over past year, AGC reports

  The Associated General Contractors of America reported that construction employment increased in 30 states and the District of Columbia between May 2025 and May 2026.

  • Main announcement: AGC reported state construction employment increased in 30 states and D.C. between May 2025 and May 2026; Texas added 18,700 jobs (2.1%), North Carolina added 13,600, Wisconsin added 9,000, and Wisconsin posted the largest percentage increase (6.2%); California recorded the largest annual decline at 13,100 jobs (−1.5%).
  • Monthly detail and risks: From April to May, construction employment increased in 23 states and D.C., declined in 22 states, and was unchanged in 5 states; monthly leaders included Texas (+3,600) and Wisconsin (+2,900). AGC officials Ken Simonson and Jeffrey D. Shoaf cautioned that opposition to data center projects and uncertainty over federal transportation funding pose threats to future construction job growth.
• Jun 16, 2026

  Climate Change Solutions - June 16, 2026

  The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) released new fact sheets on lithium and cobalt and announced its 29th annual Congressional Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency EXPO (EXPO 2026).

  • New EESI publications: EESI published fact sheets on Lithium and Cobalt, noting the U.S. relies on imports for >50% of lithium consumed and 76% of cobalt consumed; the newsletter links to a 2025 Critical Minerals Issue Brief for deeper analysis.
  • Event and policy updates: EXPO 2026 is scheduled for Wednesday, June 24, 2026, 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (reception 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.) at the Rayburn House Office Building Gold Room (Room 2168) and online; the newsletter also reports House action on the Agriculture Appropriations Act (H.R.8646) providing $22.5 billion to USDA through September 2027, and updates on geothermal permitting bills and the DOMINANCE Act to secure critical mineral supply chains.
• Jun 15, 2026

  Tennessee Valley Corridor summit participants focus on AI, quantum initiatives

  The state of Tennessee has pledged $43 million for the Tennessee Quantum Initiative (TQI).

  • $43 million pledge by the State of Tennessee to the Tennessee Quantum Initiative (TQI) to build the ecosystem that moves quantum technologies toward real-world adoption; the initiative will increase access to quantum resources, support workforce development, and is linked to hiring through the K-Quantum Accelerator and plans for a 100,000-square-foot quantum foundry in Knoxville.
  • Tennessee Valley Corridor National Summit (May 28-29, Chattanooga): attended by ORNL, DOE, UT-Battelle, U.S. Reps. Chuck Fleischmann and John Rose, and state leaders; ORNL highlighted its AI history (Oak Ridge Applied Artificial Intelligence Project, 1979), continued leadership in HPC/exascale via the Genesis Mission, and cited an industry partnership with Nvidia tied to Nvidia’s $5.5 trillion market valuation.
• Jun 15, 2026

  Data Centers’ Next Hurdle: Winning Public Trust and Social License

  The article reports that community opposition is emerging as a decisive constraint on U.S. data center development.

  • Main action: Local communities and voters have begun to block or reshape large data center projects: Monterey Park approved a citywide ban on new data centers; opposition in Festus, Missouri helped thwart a proposed $6 billion campus and unseat incumbent council members; the proposed Stratos project in Utah was reduced from 40,000 acres to about 20,000 acres. The piece also cites a seasonally adjusted annual construction rate of $50.7 billion (April 2026, US Census Bureau) as context for the scale of recent growth.
  • Background & policy details: State-level responses include North Carolina lawmakers considering utility cost-recovery changes for major customers and New York’s proposed Responsible Data Center Development Act, which would pause new large data center permits for one year and require public hearings, host-community benefit programs, and separate utility rate classifications. The article is an analytical report summarizing local disputes, polling (Pew, Gallup), expert comments, and cited regulatory proposals.
• Jun 9, 2026

  Fuel to Power: What Rising Costs Mean for Data Centers

  Analysis: Energy price surge since March is raising costs for data centers.

  • Main finding: Energy prices have surged by double digits since March, pushing electricity costs higher and directly increasing operating expenditures for data centers; the article cites a projection that U.S. electricity prices are expected to rise by more than 5% in 2026.
  • Background and implications: The piece details four concrete pressure points: higher opex, rising backup/resilience fuel costs (diesel and natural gas for on-site generators), slower or phased grid interconnections in capacity-constrained markets, and increased public scrutiny and permitting friction; it notes no major operator has publicly cancelled or cut capacity to date.
• Jun 9, 2026

  Hydrogen’s Hurdles, Fuel Cells’ Rise in Data Center Power

  DataCenterKnowledge publishes a final installment reviewing less-mature or emerging alternatives to diesel generators for data center backup power, focusing on hydrogen backup, fuel cells, and renewable fuels.

  • Main coverage: The article assesses hydrogen engines and fuel cells and renewable diesel as diesel alternatives, noting concrete deployments and pilots: NorthC Datacenters ordered six Jenbacher hydrogen engines in the Netherlands (dual-gas for short hydrogen outages), Microsoft piloted a 3 MW hydrogen fuel cell in Latham, NY, and Bloom Energy signed a $5 billion strategic partnership with Brookfield to accelerate fuel cell capacity. It highlights the Dutch ~300 km national hydrogen network repurposed from natural gas pipelines and Microsoft’s prior 2030 diesel elimination pledge as context.
  • Background & policy details: The piece notes regulatory movement with the US EPA removing proposed hydrogen co-firing mandates from its NSPS (earlier draft had ramped to 96% by 2038), cites cost and infrastructure constraints for hydrogen (production, transport, storage, permitting), and points out that fuel cells running on natural gas/biogas are identified as the most likely near-term scalable solution for behind-the-meter AI power needs.
• Jun 9, 2026

  From Tail Risk to Design Baseline: How the Grid Is Adapting to Extreme Heat

  POWER (Sonal Patel) reports that system planners and grid operators are now treating extreme heat as an assumed operating condition rather than a tail risk.

  • Main announcement/action: POWER summarizes that system planners and reliability entities (notably NERC and FERC) and operators are treating extreme heat as a design baseline, citing metrics such as EIA projection of ~1,610 CDDs for 2026 (4% above 2025), NERC’s 2026 Summer Reliability Assessment (net internal demand up 1.3% to 790 GW, and >58 GW of new on-peak capacity including 16.4 GW solar, 14.7 GW batteries, 6.7 GW natural gas, 1.6 GW wind), and FERC’s forecast of $46.81/MWh average wholesale price for summer 2026. The piece catalogues operational changes (hourly ambient-adjusted transmission ratings, dynamic line ratings pilots, ADMS/DERMS deployments) and emergency interventions (DOE Section 202(c) orders covering roughly 4,400 MW of extended capacity service).
  • Background and details: The article documents drought risks (FERC: 62% of continental U.S. impacted; Lake Powell inflow forecast at 13% of average), potential loss of up to 4,500 MW of Colorado River hydropower as soon as August 2026, rapid data center load growth (from 44 GW in 2025 to 55 GW in 2026, ~25%), and operational timelines (PJM implemented AAR on March 4, 2026; SPP expects AAR by Sept. 1, 2026; MISO full compliance by Q2 2028).
• Jun 8, 2026

  The AI Demand Dilemma: Utilities Confront Speculative Growth

  Utilities across the US are rewriting tariffs, demanding financial guarantees, and altering transmission and procurement plans to avoid building infrastructure for speculative AI-related data center load requests.

  • Main action: Utilities (notably AEP and Duke Energy) are tightening large-load rules and requiring financial commitments to move projects forward: AEP winnowed more than 30 GW of preliminary requests to ~13 GW for formal studies and 5.6 GW with signed Electric Service Agreements; AEP proposed requiring customers to commit to paying for 90% of requested capacity for a decade before the utility builds supporting infrastructure. These measures include specialized large-load tariffs, collateral/minimum-usage guarantees, and phased energization schedules to limit ratepayer exposure.
  • Background and implementation details: Regulators and reliability bodies (NERC, ERCOT, FERC) are developing new categories and study frameworks (e.g., Computational Load Entity, batch study processes) and reliability guidance. Utilities are expanding financing and procurement: Duke extended a $10 billion master credit facility through 2031 and raised its five-year capital plan to $103 billion; AEP raised its five-year capital plan to $78 billion. Industry forecasts and planning estimates include Wood Mackenzie projecting the US data center electrical equipment market could grow to $65 billion by 2030, and Grid Strategies/ACEG estimating roughly 5,000 miles of new high-capacity transmission annually through 2035 (fewer than 1,000 miles built in 2024).
• Jun 8, 2026

  Amazon, Corning Reach Multibillion-Dollar Fiber Deal

  Corning has reached a multibillion-dollar deal to supply fiber to Amazon’s U.S. data center infrastructure.

  • Main announcement: Corning and Amazon announced a multibillion-dollar fiber supply agreement to support Amazon’s U.S. data center infrastructure; exact financial terms were not disclosed.
  • Implementation and background: The companies said the deal will boost Corning’s manufacturing capacity at its North Carolina facilities and create 1,000 new jobs; no specific implementation timeline or delivery schedule was provided in the article.
• Jun 3, 2026

  What’s driving Trane’s growth? Services staff’s insight into HVAC customer needs, CEO says

  Trane Technologies announced the opening of a new HVAC training center at its Davidson, North Carolina headquarters and CEO Dave Regnery reiterated the company’s sustainability-led growth strategy focused on services and building energy repurposing.

  • Training center & services emphasis: In April, Trane opened a training center at its Davidson HQ with capacity for 100,000 training hours serving 4,500 students a year. The company relies on a large in-house services organization (about one-third of employees, roughly 7,000 service technicians) and maintains 300–400 trainees in two- and four-year programs at any time; all technicians are brought in twice a year for continuing education.
  • Background, operations and product strategy: CEO Dave Regnery doubled down on sustainability, noting buildings lose 30% of energy to inefficiency and that data centers uniquely reuse energy into computing. Trane develops reference thermal designs with hyperscalers, colocation providers, and chip makers, manufactures where it sells (listed 21 U.S. plants, 1 Mexico plant, plus plants in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia) and says this onshoring helps manage tariff volatility.