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North Carolina Data Center Intel
Latest data center news, projects, power and policy across North Carolina — updated daily.
Recent North Carolina data center news
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Speaker shares details on Washington talks: They were very good
The US Government has announced funding for the construction of the Strășeni–Gutinaș 400 kV power line connecting Moldova to Romania and the European power grid, while Moldovan Speaker Igor Grosu reported positive talks in Washington on energy, security, and humanitarian cooperation.
- Energy project & funding: The US Government will fund the Strășeni–Gutinaș 400 kV power line with 130 million USD, to be completed by 2028, including modernization of the Strășeni 330 kV station with a 400 kV section and a route crossing 25 localities in Strășeni, Călărași, Nisporeni, and Hîncești districts, to directly connect Moldova, Romania, and the European power grid and reduce dependence on the East.
- Washington visit & cooperation: During a December 2–10 working visit to the United States, Speaker Igor Grosu held meetings at the US Senate, Congress, and State Department on energy cooperation, state border management, cybersecurity, humanitarian projects, defense capacity, and combating misinformation, received congratulations on Moldova’s September parliamentary elections, and engaged with the Moldovan diaspora in Washington, Chicago, and North Carolina.
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United States Cloud Computing Provider Using Nvidia AI Chips $44 Billion CoreWeave Issues $2.25 Billion Convertible Bonds (1.75% Convertible Senior Notes Due 2031) at $215.60 Per Share Representing +150% Premium to Last Reported Sale Price (8/12/25: $86.24)
CoreWeave announced issuance of $2.25 billion convertible senior notes due 2031 and earlier announced a $9 billion all-share acquisition of Core Scientific.
- Main announcement: CoreWeave will issue $2.25 billion of convertible bonds (1.75% convertible senior notes due 2031) convertible at $215.60 per share, stated to represent a +150% premium to the last reported sale price (8/12/25: $86.24). The issuance date reported 11th December and the note maturity is 2031.
- Background and related actions: In 10 July 2025 filings/announcements CoreWeave agreed to buy Core Scientific for $9 billion in an all-share transaction (reported +66% premium to unaffected close 25/6/25: $12.30). Other verifiable details: CoreWeave IPO on Nasdaq in April 2025, raised $1.5 billion in the IPO; previous financing and investor activity includes reported talks at $16 billion valuation (Mar 2024), reported Cisco investment at $23 billion valuation (Oct 2024), reported Blackstone $7.6 billion loan default issues (2024–2025), and planned/reported IPO raises of $2.5–4 billion in 2025 in press reports.
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New Model Ordinance Development Continues with Utility Scale Solar Stakeholder Engagement Session
The North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center (NCCETC) has held its first stakeholder engagement session to develop solar and storage model ordinances for large-scale renewable energy siting in the Carolinas under the Carolinas DASH initiative.
- Session #1 on November 18, 2025 focused on utility-scale solar ordinance categories (technology definition, setbacks, fencing, screening/buffering, height/visual/noise restrictions, planning/applications, and community engagement), with expert context from Professor Adam Lovelady on zoning, land-use regulation, and permitting pathways such as special use permits and conditional zoning.
- Stakeholders from renewable developers, advocacy groups, local and state government, and agriculture discussed detailed design choices such as acreage vs MW-based definitions, setback purposes and waivers, buffer opacity and maintenance, agrivoltaics-compatible height limits, treatment of interconnection/transformers, and preferences for by-right zoning vs special/conditional use permits; NCCETC will hold future sessions on storage, land use, appendices, and draft ordinance feedback, and invites written input via DSIRE-Admin@ncsu.edu and resources on the Carolinas DASH website.
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Roundup: Rolling back efficiencies / ICE in NOLA / Big tech debt
The Trump administration plans to roll back fuel economy standards for gasoline-powered cars and trucks covering through the 2031 model year, and Morgan Stanley is exploring a significant risk transfer tied to Meta’s Hyperion data-center financing.
- Main announcement: The Trump administration intends to weaken mileage rules for gasoline-powered cars and trucks through the 2031 model year, according to people familiar with the plan (reported by Associated Press). The rollback would ease regulatory pressure on automakers to reduce emissions.
- Additional details:Operation Catahoula Crunch: DHS agents deployed to New Orleans targeting unauthorized immigrants with criminal histories, similar to prior sweeps in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Charlotte (reported by The Wall Street Journal). Morgan Stanley arranged over $27 billion of debt and about $2.5 billion of equity in October for an SPV tied to Meta Platforms Inc.’s Hyperion data-center in Richland Parish, and is now considering an offload via a significant risk transfer (reported by Bloomberg).
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Data Center Jobs: Engineering, Construction, Commissioning, Sales, Field Service and Facility Tech Jobs Available in Major Data Center Hotspots
Data Center Frontier, in partnership with Pkaza, posted a monthly roundup of active data center job openings on the Pkaza jobs board.
- Main announcement: Data Center Frontier and Pkaza published a list of open roles (examples: Data Center Facility Technician, Electrical Commissioning Engineer, Construction Project Manager, Electrical Engineer, Critical Power Sales Associate, Sr Mechanical Engineer, Site Selection Manager/Director/VP, Electrical Project Manager, MEP Superintendent, Mechanical Commissioning Engineer, Engineering Design Director, Navy Nuke Facility Technician) posted on Pkaza’s jobs board; positions are available across many US cities including Ashburn, VA; Atlanta, GA; Dallas, TX; Chicago, IL; New York, NY; Montvale, NJ; Austin, TX; Charlotte, NC; New Albany, OH; Phoenix, AZ.
- Background and details: Roles are for mission-critical data center employers (developers, colo providers, contractors, commissioning firms) and frequently emphasize reliability, energy efficiency, sustainable design / LEED expertise and commissioning; some listings explicitly accept Navy Nuke / military veterans and many positions list multiple alternative locations or hybrid/remote options. Author: Kathy Hitchens (Data Center Frontier).
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The Five Types of Electro-Industrial States
Rocky Mountain Institute presents a typology classifying US states into five electro-industrial archetypes.
- Main announcement/action: RMI authors classify states into five archetypes — Momentum Hubs (Arizona, California), Fast‑Track Builders (Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Ohio, Idaho), Policy Champions (New York, Michigan, Virginia, Oregon, Washington, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania), Open‑Door Starters (Vermont, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Mississippi, Iowa), and Early‑Stage Starters (Missouri, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Maine, Alabama, Louisiana, Indiana, West Virginia, Montana, Arkansas). The typology is based on policy reliability, regulatory ease, economic capacity, physical infrastructure (power and interconnection), and market momentum.
- Background and details: The analysis highlights that market momentum and policy reliability should operate in tandem; low regulatory burdens accelerate short-term investment but may strain local housing and infrastructure without accompanying policy ambition. The authors reference the report GREASE Lightning as a policy playbook for designing investment-led, state-driven electro-industrial strategies.
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Hurricanes in 2024 led to the most hours without power in the United States in 10 years
U.S. Energy Information Administration reports that U.S. electricity customers experienced an average of 11 hours of electricity interruptions in 2024, nearly twice the annual average of the previous decade.
- Main finding: The EIA’s Electric Power Annual 2024 shows U.S. customers averaged 11 hours of interruptions in 2024; Hurricanes Beryl, Helene, and Milton accounted for 80% of hours without electricity, and interruptions attributed to major events averaged nearly 9 hours in 2024 versus nearly 4 hours (2014–2023). The report uses industry metrics SAIDI and SAIFI to characterize outages.
- Details & state impacts: The report cites South Carolina averaged nearly 53 hours without power in 2024; Hurricane Beryl left 2.6 million Texas customers without power (July), Hurricane Helene left 5.9 million customers across 10 states (with at least 1.2 million in South Carolina), and Hurricane Milton left 3.4 million Florida customers without power; Hawaii averaged 4.4 interruptions, while several states (Arizona, South Dakota, North Dakota, Massachusetts) averaged less than 2 hours of interruptions.
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Salute Military Story: Frederick “Fritz” Little
Fritz Little, retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel and Director of Program Delivery at Salute, describes his transition from military service and USAID into a leadership role at a large data center campus in Northern Virginia.
- Main announcement: Fritz Little joined as Director of Program Delivery at a large data center campus in Northern Virginia after taking early retirement from USAID earlier this year following budget cuts; his transition was initiated after attending a veteran-focused job fair run by iMasons Armed Forces Groups and through rapid outreach and mentorship from Lee Kirby. He reports joining the data center community as of July.
- Background and details: Little enlisted at 17 and served 35 years in the Army (Military Police, Special Operations Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations), deployed to Tajikistan (Dushanbe, 2001), Afghanistan, and Iraq, and finished as Civil Affairs Branch Chief at US Special Operations Command; he later worked at USAID in humanitarian assistance and disaster response prior to early retirement.
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Duke Energy beats quarterly estimates as power demand in the Carolinas increases
Duke Energy reported stronger-than-expected third-quarter results and signed about three gigawatts of energy service agreements with data centers.
- Main announcement/action: Duke Energy beat Q3 revenue and profit estimates, reporting quarterly revenue of $8.54 billion and adjusted EPS of $1.81, and said it has signed about 3 gigawatts of energy service agreements with data centers this year (including deals with Digital Realty and Edged). CFO Brian Savoy said: “I think you’ll see the three gigawatts grow in a meaningful way as we move through the quarters.” The company plans to add over 13 gigawatts of energy capacity over the next five years and expects to earn in the upper half of its 5%–7% profit growth range starting in 2028.
- Background and details: Duke narrowed full-year adjusted EPS guidance to $6.25–$6.35 per share (from $6.17–$6.42); adjusted electric utilities segment earnings were $1.69 billion (up from $1.46 billion year-ago). The company’s refreshed five-year capital plan, expected in February, is expected to range between $95 billion and $105 billion. Duke is considering adding large traditional and next-generation nuclear reactors and extending some coal plants; it also expects to recover about $1.1 billion in storm-related costs by February next year. The article cites the U.S. Energy Information Administration projecting record U.S. power demand in 2025–2026 driven by AI data centers and electrification.
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50 States of Power Decarbonization Q3 2025: States Work to Accelerate Clean Energy Project Development and Define “Large” Load Customers
The NC Clean Energy Technology Center released the Q3 2025 edition of the 50 States of Power Decarbonization quarterly report.
Key announcement: The Q3 2025 report documents that 48 states and Puerto Rico took a total of 384 actions related to electric power decarbonization and resource planning in Q3 2025, with 234 introduced bills (not yet passed a chamber). The report also summarizes planned capacity additions from integrated resource plans: solar 87,539 MW, natural gas 77,145 MW, wind 43,031 MW, storage 39,310 MW, and planned coal retirements 33,424 MW. Top active states listed are North Carolina, California, and Minnesota (followed by Indiana, Missouri, and Oregon).
Background and details: The report identifies three trends: (1) states responding to federal clean energy policy changes (citing the passage of OBBBA) and accelerating project development (focus on permitting and interconnection), (2) states/utilities reconsidering demand thresholds for large load customers (e.g., data centers), and (3) state regulators revising integrated resource planning rules. The report highlights five specific Q3 developments, including North Carolina lawmakers repealing interim emission targets, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission approving a new NIPSCO subsidiary for large loads, Ohio approving an AEP Ohio customer class for data centers, the Southwest Power Pool’s new interconnection policy for large loads, and Georgia/Virginia regulators approving IRPs for Georgia Power and Dominion Energy.