North Carolina Data Center Intel

Recent North Carolina data center news

• Jan 21, 2026

  Vertical integration improves capital efficiencies through scale, stability, goal alignment

  EQT Corp announced it achieved net zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 for its upstream operations in 2024.

  • Operational and decarbonization actions: EQT reports net zero (Scope 1 & 2) in 2024, a 100% electric frac fleet, replacement of more than 8,000 natural gas pneumatic devices completed in under 18 months, and participation in nearly 15,000 aerial surveys over 20,500 square miles via the Appalachia Methane Initiative.
  • Integration, investments and synergies: After acquiring Equitrans EQT became a vertically integrated operator, actively developing ~1.5 million lateral feet/year, underwrote nearly $20 billion in deals over six years, realized $60 million in capital synergies this past year with $250 million anticipated over the next few years, and is an equity investor in Context Labs (working with KPMG) for carbon accounting and verification.
• Jan 21, 2026

  ERMCO Expands Transformer Manufacturing West with New Arizona Facility

  ERMCO announced it will open a new 566,121-square-foot three-phase transformer manufacturing facility in Waddell, Maricopa County, Arizona.

  • Facility details: The plant is 566,121 square feet, located in Waddell (≈30 miles west of Phoenix), will focus on three-phase transformer production, is expected to be operational in 2027, and foundational work will begin this year; the project is expected to create more than 500 jobs in engineering, skilled trades, and operations.
  • Context and justification: The announcement cites ongoing transformer supply shortages, drivers such as aging grid infrastructure, rapid load growth from data centers and electrification, and states site selection was influenced by proximity to Western U.S. customers, Arizona’s business climate, and a skilled labor market. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Arkansas Electric Cooperatives Inc. and currently employs nearly 3,500 workers across facilities in Tennessee, Georgia, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Texas, Quebec, and Mexico.
• Jan 21, 2026

  Virginia proposes 20.78GW storage mandate as Trump, governors call for emergency PJM grid measures

  Virginia state delegate Richard C. ‘Rip’ Sullivan, Jr has introduced HB895 to raise mandatory energy storage procurement targets for Appalachian Power and Dominion Energy Virginia.

  • Main announcement: HB895 would require Appalachian Power to add 780MW short-duration by 2040 and 520MW long-duration by 2045, and Dominion Energy to add 16,000MW short-duration and 3,480MW long-duration by 2045; the bill is nearly identical to HB2537 (vetoed May 2025) but raises Dominion’s short-duration target from 5,220MW to 16,000MW within the same timeframe.
  • Background and related actions: The Trump administration and a bipartisan group of governors urged PJM (16 January) to hold an emergency procurement auction and to build more than US$15 billion of baseload generation; PJM responded by initiating a “Reliability Backstop Procurement” and directed immediate process discussions and deadlines to be considered at the 22 January Members Committee meeting. The bill and procurement push are motivated by rapidly rising demand in Virginia—driven largely by data centres—and recommendations from groups such as MAREC Action, NRDC, and Environment America.
• Jan 20, 2026

  GSN Roundup: Blackstone and Willis Tower, JV’s Big Data Center Refi, and Prestige Closing

  Affinius Capital partnership is seeking a $925 million mortgage to refinance the second phase of the Gainesville Crossing Data Center Campus.

  • Deal specifics: The JV of Affinius and Corscale is pursuing a $925 million mortgage to refinance a fully leased, 482,000 sq ft building with 72 megawatts of capacity; the borrower prefers a floating-rate loan with a 2–3 year term, and Newmark is advising. The tenant is an undisclosed large cloud-computing provider on an initial 15-year lease; the building is part of a planned five-building campus totaling 306 MW.
  • Background & supporting facts: The 130-acre site was bought from Buchanan Partners in mid-2020 for $74.5 million after rezoning in late 2019; Corscale is the data-center arm of Patrinely and Affinius’ predecessor firm is USAA Real Estate, which helped acquire the site. Financial performance issues led Larry H. Miller Co. to close Prestige Financial Services amid an MLB expansion funding push (expansion fee expected to top $2 billion), and Blackstone is separately exploring options around a $1.32 billion securitized loan on Willis Tower.
• Jan 16, 2026

  Shared Infrastructure Provider Boldyn Partners With SEA-TAC

  Boldyn Networks announced a partnership with Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to develop a 5G Distributed Antenna System (DAS).

  • Deployment details:Boldyn Networks will deploy a 5G Distributed Antenna System (DAS) at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) to provide broader connectivity across the terminal, garages, rental car facilities, ticketing, check-in, baggage claim and tarmac. SEA handled 52.6 million passengers in 2024.
  • Context and selection:SEA Airport Director Rick Duncan said the search for an internet service provider was competitive; Boldyn, a smaller ISP, has prior public-private partnerships with military bases and urban centers and has announced recent partnerships with Nashville International Airport and Asheville Regional Airport.
• Jan 16, 2026

  US ROUNDUP: Duke Energy, Elevate, Fluence with BrightNight and Cordelio progress BESS projects

  Duke Energy has brought online a 50MW/200MWh BESS at the former Allen coal plant in North Carolina.

  • Main announcement: Duke Energy commissioned a 50MW/200MWh battery energy storage system at the former Allen coal plant on Lake Wylie, North Carolina, costing around US$100 million, finished under budget and ahead of schedule, began serving customers in November with final testing ongoing; construction of a second 167MW/668MWh BESS will start in May on a 10-acre site, and both systems are eligible for federal ITCs covering 40% (including an additional 10% for reinvestment into an energy community).
  • Additional project actions and timelines: Fluence Energy will supply its Gridstack Pro BESS (US-made cells/modules/enclosures/thermal systems) for BrightNight and Cordelio Power’s 300MW/1,200MWh Pioneer Clean Energy Centre in Yuma County, Arizona (PPA with APS; commercial operations expected April 2027); Elevate Renewables has acquired the 150MW/600MWh Prospect Power BESS in Virginia (scheduled operations mid-2026).
    • Energy Storage Summit USA: 24-25 March 2026, Dallas, TX; agenda includes FEOC challenges, power demand forecasting, and BESS supply chain management.
• Jan 15, 2026

  Cleanstar National Inc Expands Critical Environment Cleaning Operations Across the Southeast

  Cleanstar National Inc has announced expansion of its specialized critical environment cleaning operations across the Southeastern United States.

  • Expansion scope: Cleanstar National Inc is expanding operations across Georgia, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee to support data centers, healthcare campuses, higher education, industrial facilities, and construction projects; the company cites more than 30 years of experience and a self-performing workforce of over 700 E-Verified professionals and offers audit-ready protocols aligned with EPA, ISO 14644, GMP, OSHA, IICRC, and IJCSA.
  • Operational details and background: The company is founder-led since 1995, operates a fully self-performing model with zero outsourcing, provides 24/7 emergency response, and will deliver standardized, compliance-first cleaning services to support multi-site portfolios and regional developments from its Metro Atlanta headquarters.
• Jan 14, 2026

  Patented: Machine Learning Treatment for Depression and More North Texas Inventive Activity

  The Board of Regents of the University of Texas System, Stanford University, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs have been granted a patent for a machine-learning method to identify depression patients likely to respond to antidepressant treatment.

  • Main announcement: The three institutions received USPTO Patent No. 12490933 for a method that uses machine learning to identify subjects with depression who will respond to antidepressant treatment, listing Madhukar Trivedi among the inventors; the patent application listed is 19072469 on 03/06/2025 (278 days app to issue).
  • Background and context: The article is a Dallas Innovates weekly patents roundup reporting 100 patents granted in the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metro for the week of 12/9/25 (ranked No. 11 of 250 metros); it catalogs numerous other patents and top assignees (e.g., Texas Instruments Inc. (10 patents), Toyota (9), Samsung (7)) and provides USPTO links for individual patents.
• Jan 14, 2026

  Emerging Data Center Markets: Key Locations to Watch in 2026

  Cushman & Wakefield reports that power and land constraints in major U.S. data center hubs are driving operators to consider secondary and tertiary markets.

  • Main announcement: Cushman & Wakefield finds power and land constraints in primary hubs (Northern Virginia, Phoenix, Dallas-Fort Worth, Chicago, Atlanta, Portland/Eastern Oregon) are shifting site selection toward secondary/tertiary markets; highlights include OpenAI’s Stargate (~$100 billion) and Vantage Frontier (~$25+ billion) as large upcoming projects.
  • Details/background: Regions such as Pennsylvania, the Carolinas, Central Washington, New Jersey, and Massachusetts are offering economic incentives, faster approvals, and flexible regulatory frameworks; Central Washington offers low-cost hydro power enabling 100% renewable operation but is also facing power constraints.
• Jan 12, 2026

  Data center news: Northville, Springfield Township pass data center moratoriums

  Multiple Michigan municipalities, Oakland University, Microsoft, the U.S. Department of Defense, and U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton announced actions related to data center development, local moratoria, and changes to utility and permitting rules.

  • Main announcement / actions:

    • Oakland University is partnering with Ohio-based Fairmount Properties to develop a 26-megawatt “edge” data center on Parking Lot 35 adjacent to a DTE substation; a feasibility study (environmental, utilities, market) will precede a business plan to OU’s board in spring or summer 2026.
    • Microsoft disclosed it is pursuing a potential $1 billion data center on 240 acres in Lowell Township (Covenant Business Park) and requested a pause in rezoning to engage the community; Microsoft now has nearly 900 acres in the Grand Rapids area across multiple proposed sites.

  • Regulatory, local-government, and federal actions / background:

    • Several Michigan localities enacted or proposed moratoria to study data center zoning and impacts: Northville (12-month moratorium), Springfield Township (180 days), Saline (proposed 12-month vote), Saginaw (proposed six-month), Bay City (prepare local regulations); Allen Park postponed a decision on a proposed 26-MW center.
    • U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton introduced the DATA Act of 2026 to exempt fully off-grid power suppliers by creating “consumer-regulated electric utilities”; the Department of Defense solicited bids for private AI data centers on unused military land (Jan. 22 proposal deadline; Fort Hood, Fort Bragg, Fort Bliss, Dugway Proving Ground listed with acreages and varying water risk).