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NC · State profile
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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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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).
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New Data Center Developments: January 2026
Vantage Data Centers broke ground on the Lighthouse data center project in Port Washington, Wisconsin.
- Project details: Lighthouse is a four-data-center campus delivering 902 MW of IT capacity, driven by a $15 billion investment as part of Oracle and OpenAI’s Stargate initiative; the development positions the site for hyperscale AI deployments and is presented as a regional economic infrastructure project.
- Additional facts and background: Major energy and footprint moves this month include Alphabet’s acquisition of Intersect Power for $4.75 billion in cash (plus assumption of existing debt) to secure clean energy for Google data centers; Nscale’s $865 million commitment for a 10-year, 40 MW colocation agreement in North Carolina; TikTok’s >$37.7 billion investment plan for a Brazil data center with Omnia and Casa dos Ventos; Brookfield and Qai’s $20 billion AI infrastructure JV in Qatar; and regulatory/energy items such as Ireland lifting a de facto moratorium requiring on-site generation or batteries to meet full demand for grid connections.
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Meta Strikes Deal With Irving’s Vistra to Purchase Nuclear Power for Meta’s AI ‘Supercluster’
Meta has signed 20-year power purchasing agreements (PPAs) with Vistra to procure 2,609 MW of zero-carbon nuclear energy to support Meta’s operations and its Prometheus AI supercluster in New Albany, Ohio.
- Main announcement & deal details: Meta is purchasing 2,176 MW from operating units at Perry and Davis-Besse plus 433 MW of incremental output from equipment uprates at Perry (OH), Davis-Besse (OH), and Beaver Valley (PA) for a total of 2,609 MW; the PPAs are 20-year agreements, purchases begin in late 2026 and the full 2,609 MW will be online by 2034; Vistra will use the commitment to invest in uprates and pursue subsequent 20-year license extensions for the three plants.
- Background and implementation details: Vistra acquired the plants in 2023, recently agreed to acquire Cogentrix Energy in a $4 billion deal; uprate projects span approximately nine years and are expected to support ~3,000 project-related jobs, increase state and local tax revenues (described as tens of millions of dollars annually), and benefit the PJM regional grid (PJM service area list provided in article).
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Trump’s AI push breathes life into an old pollution scourge
The EPA under Administrator Lee Zeldin plans to loosen enforcement of a 2024 Biden-era coal ash rule, proposing regulatory changes and potentially granting a three-year cleanup extension to 11 power plants for 13 unlined coal ash dumps.
- Main action: EPA plans to propose amendments to the 2024 coal ash rule and is considering a three-year extension (to Oct. 17, 2031) for a subset of plants; the proposal would apply to 11 plants and 13 unlined ash dumps (each spanning more than 40 acres), and the agency will accept comments through February 6, 2026. The agency says the extension aims to promote grid reliability amid rising demand from AI data centers.
- Background and details: The 2024 rule had expanded oversight to legacy ash dumps after earlier exemptions; EPA and companies cite implementation challenges. Examples: NIPSCO/Schahfer previously expected to close by 2028 but EPA proposed extension to Oct. 2031; PacifiCorp stopped burning coal on Dec. 31 and will not use the extension (stop disposing ash by Sept. 30); several plants (Naughton, Baldwin) have reported groundwater exceedances of contaminants such as arsenic, lithium, fluoride and radium. EPA has not publicly confirmed compliance status for the 11 plants identified.
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North Carolina Launches $86M Effort to Fill Broadband Gaps Left by Earlier Grants
The N.C. Department of Information Technology’s Broadband Infrastructure Office launched the Stop-Gap Solutions Program, an $86 million ARPA-funded initiative to finance small, targeted broadband line-extension projects connecting locations missed by prior grants.
- Program details and timeline: The Stop-Gap Solutions Program is $86 million funded by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), administered by N.C. Department of Information Technology’s Broadband Infrastructure Office (NCDIT), targets fast-turnaround projects that can be completed by the end of 2026, and has applications due January 26; projects must be designed to meet or exceed symmetrical 100 Megabits per second speeds with fiber deployments prioritized.
- Background, evaluation criteria, and funding flexibility: The program is intended to fill gaps left by prior efforts including the GREAT grant (launched 2019 and bolstered by $350 million ARPA in 2022) and the CAB program (funded with roughly $177 million from the state’s Capital Projects Fund); proposals will be evaluated on financial stability, past grant performance, technical merits, cost efficiency, number of locations served, proximity to existing infrastructure, and may receive consideration for local letters of support; funding may be shifted into or out of Stop-Gap depending on demand and remaining ARPA balances under authority of the General Assembly.