'North Carolinians want us to get ahead of this.' NC House Democrats propose data center legislation

North Carolina House Democrats have introduced House Bill 1063, named the Ratepayer and Resource Protection Act, as part of a legislative package focused on affordability in the state. The bill specifically targets data centers, proposing several key changes to their operations and incentives in North Carolina. According to Rep. Lindsey Prather, D-Buncombe, the legislation aims to ensure data centers "pay their own way" rather than shifting costs to residents. The proposed bill mandates that all data centers in North Carolina publicly report their electricity and water consumption, peak demand, cooling systems, and any emissions-free electricity generation. Furthermore, data centers consuming over a billion liters of water annually or with a peak electricity demand exceeding 40 megawatts would be required to generate at least 25% of their power from non-carbon emitting sources. The bill also seeks to repeal existing state sales and use tax exemptions for data center construction, server replacement, and electricity, and prevent state and local governments from offering future incentives like infrastructure grants or property tax abatements. Prather highlighted that roughly a dozen local North Carolina governments have already enacted moratoriums on data center development to establish local land use regulations. Governor Josh Stein has also asked a bipartisan state energy task force to review the existing tax exemptions. While the legislation faces an uphill battle given Democrats are in the minority in the State House, its proponents, including Rep. Vernetta Alston, D-Durham, and Rep. Monika Johnson-Hostler, D-Wake, emphasize its importance in addressing crises faced by working North Carolinians. The legislative package also includes proposals to modify the Utilities Commission's performance-based regulation standards for utilities like Duke Energy, tying performance rewards to reductions in energy bills, shutoffs, and carbon emissions.