Greensboro City Council to hold public work sessions on data center issues
Greensboro City Council is holding public work sessions to discuss water, environmental, regulatory, and land-use issues related to data centers. This comes amidst a 180-day moratorium on new data center projects requiring over 10 megawatts. Guilford County is also planning similar sessions to establish policies before receiving new proposals.
The Greensboro City Council has scheduled a series of public work sessions to thoroughly examine the water, wastewater, environmental, regulatory, and land-use implications of large data centers. These discussions are taking place during an active 180-day moratorium on new data center projects that require more than 10 megawatts of electrical power. The moratorium, enacted on August 18, 2026, will pause new applications until February 14, 2027.
The initial session, slated for September 10, will specifically address water and wastewater concerns, led by Greensboro Water Resources Director Mike Borchers and Rebecca M. Slabaugh, director of water planning for Arcadis. Subsequent sessions on September 24 and October 8 will focus on state policies and regulatory frameworks, featuring insights from David Payne, Director of Intergovernmental Affairs and Economic Development for the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, and academics like Dr. Angel Hsu from Data-Driven Lab and Dr. Yuetong Zhang from UNC-Chapel Hill's Institute for the Environment.
This concentrated effort follows significant public debate and opposition, which prompted the City Council to reverse an earlier vote and ultimately establish the moratorium, which was extended from an initial 120 days. The goal is to gather comprehensive information from experts and other communities to inform potential changes to Greensboro's Land Development Ordinance before the moratorium concludes. Issues under review include power and water consumption, noise, property impacts, and economic benefits.
Similarly, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, including members Pat Tillman and Frankie Jones, is also planning its own work session on data centers. This proactive step comes after commissioners attended a relevant seminar and recognized the need to establish clear policies and regulations, especially given the varying scale and impact of different data center types, before specific development proposals arise in the county.