North Carolina Data Center Intel

Recent North Carolina data center news

• Mar 26, 2026

  Renewable Energy vs. Fossil Fuels: Who Is Actually Winning in 2026?

  Happy Eco News (author Artemis) publishes an analytical piece stating that the energy transition is accelerating in electricity generation but has not yet displaced fossil fuels across total energy demand.

  • Main announcement: The article reports that renewables are rapidly expanding in electricity — citing solar and wind at 17% of U.S. electricity generation in 2024 (756,621 GWh), global clean energy investment of $2.2 trillion in 2025 out of $3.3 trillion total energy spending, and that renewables represented over 90% of new global electricity capacity added in 2025.
  • Background and additional facts: The piece notes that fossil fuels still supplied 58% of U.S. electricity in 2024 and that 82% of total U.S. energy consumption came from fossil fuels in 2023 (University of Michigan factsheet); it also records that global emissions hit a fourth consecutive annual record in 2024 and highlights mounting electricity-footprint scrutiny on sectors such as data centers, streaming platforms, and crypto casinos.
• Mar 25, 2026

  Welcome Katie, Anna, and Makhai

  Fresh Energy has announced three new staff and fellows to support its mission to equitably and rapidly decarbonize Minnesota.

  • New hires and roles: Fresh Energy welcomed Katie Maxwell as Associate, Electricity, Anna Edmunds as a Humphrey School fellow (University of Minnesota), and Makhai/Mahkai Hunt as the 2026 Capitol Pathways intern; these individuals will contribute to Minnesota-focused clean electricity, legislative engagement, and equity work. Katie earned an M.E.M. from Duke in 2025 and will work on Integrated Resource Plans (IRPs), data centers, and virtual power plants; Anna is pursuing an MPP at the Humphrey School and will track PUC dockets, energy affordability, and energy burden cap legislation; Makhai is a Macalester College junior and will work with Fresh Energy’s Public Affairs team during the 2026 Capitol Pathways internship.
  • Background and implementation details: The announcement references prior experience and institutional partnerships: Katie’s background includes work with Faith in Place, the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition, and Duke’s Nicholas Institute; Anna previously worked at the Wisconsin Public Service Commission and will work alongside Shubha Harris on Minnesota PUC dockets and research including data center impacts on energy and water; Makhai will work with Brynn Kirsling and the ongoing Capitol Pathways program (hosted by Fresh Energy for eight years) to support legislative engagement and representation efforts.
• Mar 24, 2026

  Climate Change Solutions - March 24, 2026

  EESI published its “Climate Change Solutions” newsletter summarizing recent analysis, events, and legislative activity related to energy grid upgrades, data center impacts, and climate information integrity.

  • Main announcement: EESI highlights solutions including reconductoring to expand U.S. grid capacity, coverage of data center noise and water use issues, and a podcast on climate data integrity; the newsletter also notes EESI hosted a Rapid Readout on the repeal of the EPA’s 2009 Endangerment Finding (readout available via EESI).
  • Additional details and timeline: Congressional actions noted include passage/introduction of bills: H.R.2709 (Save Our Sequoias Act) passed House, H.R.528 (Post-Disaster Reforestation and Restoration Act of 2025) passed House, reintroduction of S.4096 / H.R.7921 (Rural Decentralized Water Systems Reauthorization Act), and introduction of H.R.7977 (Energy Bills Relief Act). Upcoming EESI events: Tracking Down Data on April 23, Water Infrastructure briefing on May 7, and EXPO 2026 on June 24.
• Mar 24, 2026

  Engineers Explore Powering Data Centers with Onsite Energy in NCCETC’s Energy Insights Webinar Series

  NCCETC led a webinar on onsite energy generation for data centers on March 5, 2026.

  • Main announcement: The NC Clean Energy Technology Center’s CPIE team, in partnership with the DOE Southeast Onsite Energy TAP, hosted a webinar presenting onsite energy technologies (battery storage, CHP, fuel cells, geothermal, solar PV, thermal storage, waste heat to power, wind, etc.) for data centers; featured speakers included Isaac Panzarella (DOE Southeast Onsite Energy TAP / NCCETC), Vinnie Figlioli (Spectrum Engineers), and David Gray (Joule Power). The webinar emphasized the role of onsite generation where grid capacity is constrained and presented a benefits table mapping technologies to attributes for data centers.
  • Background and concrete details: The North Carolina Energy Policy Task Force interim report (Feb 2026) cited 128 planned data center projects with 37 gigawatts of expected demand in NC; DELTa (created by SEPA and NCCETC) was reported as representing 33 states, 65 tariffs, and 57 electric utilities as of November 2025. Joule Power discussed a Data Center Campus in Central Utah, describing site fuel access (two large pipelines) and chosen molecular-to-electric conversion (reciprocating motors); the next NCCETC webinar (Q3) “Planning for a Sustainable Fleet” is scheduled for June 23, 2026 at 2:00pm with Leke Fleet Services.
• Mar 24, 2026

  Perspectives on Energy and AI Data Centers

  NC State University hosted the Workshop on Energy Needs for AI Data Centers (FREEDM Center) to examine energy demand, grid integration, technology pathways and policy choices for AI-scale data centers.

  • Main announcement/action: The workshop presented concrete projections and site examples and discussed on-site generation (“bring your own generation“) as an interim solution while utility capacity expands. Key facts: Duke Energy projections show global AI data center demand rising from 485 TWh (2024) to 945 TWh (2030) (IEA base case, ~3% of global energy by 2030); hyperscale data centers range from 10 MW to 1 GW, with specific examples of Amazon (up to 400 MW, Richmond County, NC) and Microsoft (600 MW, Person County, NC); PowerSecure stated it can ramp up generation + storage behind-the-meter and repurpose assets to the grid after 5-10 years.

    • Date: March 2026
    • Location: NC State University, College of Engineering (FREEDM Center)
    • Agenda/subject: meeting energy demands, grid integration challenges, technology pathways, policy considerations for AI data centers

  • Background and details: The discussion contrasted grid-centric plans (Duke Energy’s 2025 IRP weighted to natural gas) with onsite alternatives including engines/turbines, fuel cells, geothermal, thermal energy storage, CHP; legislative context includes Virginia HB323 prioritizing waste heat capture and reuse. Examples cited: Joule Energy data center (Millard County, UT) up to 4 GW and DataOne Vineland, NJ up to 300 MW; references include IEA (Energy and AI) and U.S. DOE guidance on AI.

• Mar 18, 2026

  Our Investment in DG Matrix

  MCJ has announced its investment in DG Matrix by backing the company’s $60M Series A.

  • Announcement details: MCJ backed DG Matrix in a $60M Series A led by Engine Ventures with participation from Clean Energy Ventures, Cerberus Ventures, Chevron Technology Ventures, Fine Structure Ventures, and others; DG Matrix (founded 2022, Raleigh, North Carolina) is commercializing multiport solid-state transformers (SSTs) for data centers, microgrids, and fleet electrification, offering a single 4×4-foot Interport that replaces multi-skid power stacks (e.g., two 4×30-foot skids), consolidating 10 components into one unit with a 15× smaller footprint and up to 90% lower system cost.
  • Background and implementation context: DG Matrix was founded by Haroon Inam (former CTO of Smart Wires) and Dr. Subhashish Bhattacharya; Inam led Smart Wires to an IPO and achieved a $40M ramp within the first three months of production, while Bhattacharya has extensive publications (800+ citations) underpinning SST control; DG Matrix has begun collaborations with Exowatt and plans low-voltage and medium-voltage offerings for early adopter deployments; MCJ states it will explore related grid components (inverters, substations, wide-bandgap semiconductors) and cites examples like NVIDIA’s 800V DC architecture and Sun Cable’s HVDC as context for DC-native shifts.
• Mar 12, 2026

  Fossil generation could rise with faster-than-expected growth in data center power demand

  The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) published an analysis showing that faster-than-expected electricity demand growth driven by data centers could increase natural gas and coal generation and raise wholesale electricity prices.

  • Main analysis and assumptions: The EIA produced a high demand growth scenario in which 2026 and 2027 growth rates are 50% higher than the February STEO in data-center-heavy regions, while other regions are +1 percentage point above STEO; the scenario assumes no additional generating capacity beyond the February STEO and applies an assumed +$0.50/MMBtu increase in natural gas delivered prices across regions.
  • Key modeled outcomes and metrics: Under the scenario, natural gas generation rises to +7.3% (123 BkWh) between 2025–2027 (vs 1.7% baseline), coal generation declines by 5.0% (37 BkWh) nationwide in the high case, and ERCOT 2027 wholesale prices model +$37/MWh above the February STEO (excluding ERCOT the average 2027 wholesale price is +$2.10/MWh above the STEO forecast of $48/MWh).
• Mar 9, 2026

  Nvidia-backed Nscale Soars to $14.6B Valuation After Latest Funding Round

  Nscale has announced a $2 billion Series C funding round that values the company at $14.6 billion, led by Aker ASA and 8090 Industries with participation from Nvidia, Lenovo, Astra Capital Management, Citadel, Dell, Jane Street, and Nokia.

  • Main announcement:Nscale raised $2 billion in a Series C round (largest single equity raise in Europe’s history) taking the company to a $14.6 billion valuation; the round was led by Aker ASA and 8090 Industries and included return funding from Nvidia, Lenovo, Astra Capital Management, Citadel, Dell, Jane Street, and Nokia.
  • Background and details:Nscale is a UK-based neocloud spun out of Arkon Energy in 2024, previously raised $1.1 billion Series B (backed by Nvidia, Aker, Nokia, Dell), has partnered on a $15 billion OpenAI/Nvidia effort to deploy 300,000 GPUs, announced a $865 million 10-year colocation commitment for a planned Madison, N.C. data center (part of adding “hundreds of megawatts” of capacity), and operates data centers in the US, UK, Norway, Portugal, and Iceland.
• Mar 6, 2026

  AI Infrastructure Brief: Power, Capital, and Silicon Collide in the Next Phase of the Data Center Buildout

  Data Center Frontier summarizes multiple AI infrastructure announcements and projects scaling to gigawatts across North America.

  • Main announcement/action: The article reports an industry-wide acceleration of hyperscale AI data center development, including CoreWeave’s plan to add roughly 5 GW of capacity by 2030, xAI’s $659 million permit filing for Memphis “Colossus,” Nebius’s $150.6 billion Chapter 100 bond approval, and a $2.4 billion B&W/Base Electron design-build agreement to deliver 1.2 GW of natural-gas generation to supply Applied Digital AI campuses; it also cites La Caisse’s C$240 million commitment to Cologix’s MTL8 and Google’s $40 billion investment pipeline in Texas through 2027.
  • Context and additional details: The report documents wider trends: institutional capital flows (Blackstone exploring a public data-center vehicle; HighBrook targeting 300 MW), growth in dedicated/behind-the-meter generation (the “power island” trend), and rising political and community scrutiny (Birmingham 180-day moratorium, Oregon HB 4084 proposal, project withdrawals/controversies in Apex NC and West Louisville).
• Mar 5, 2026

  Hyperscalers Sign White House Pledge to Fund Data Center Power, Grid Upgrades

  The White House convened seven major AI/hyperscaler companies on March 4 to sign the non‑regulatory Ratepayer Protection Pledge committing to fund new generation capacity and pay for required grid upgrades so costs are not passed to residential or commercial ratepayers.

  • Main announcement (signatories & commitments): The pledge was signed on March 4, 2026 by Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and xAI, committing to build, bring, or buy new generation resources and cover the cost of all power delivery infrastructure upgrades required for their data centers; companies also agree to pay for contracted power and infrastructure whether or not they ultimately consume the electricity. The White House framed the effort as a policy response to AI-driven load growth and stated companies will negotiate separate rate structures with utilities and state governments to isolate costs from existing ratepayers.
  • Background & implementation details: The article cites EPRI projections (U.S. data center demand ~177–192 TWh in 2024, rising to 9–17% of national demand by 2030, up to 793 TWh in a high scenario). It documents specific company actions and figures: Google >7,800 MW contracted in Texas and a $4.75 billion Intersect Power acquisition pending; Microsoft contracted 7.9 GW in MISO; Amazon-related deals cited ~$1 billion projected customer savings (Indiana) and a $300 million Entergy transformation (Mississippi); OpenAI’s Stargate aims for 10 GW U.S. AI compute by 2029 and committed $175 million for local infrastructure in Wisconsin. The notes also record that the pledge is non‑binding and the White House disclosure does not specify independent auditing, penalties, or a defined enforcement methodology.