Guilford County Extends Data Center Moratorium to 18 Months
Guilford County commissioners unanimously extended the county's data center moratorium to 18 months, replacing a 180-day pause scheduled to expire in February 2027. The extension gives officials time to develop regulations and assess potential impacts on water, power, residents and other county resources before any data center proposal is submitted.
Guilford County commissioners voted unanimously to extend the county's moratorium on new data center development to 18 months. The longer pause replaces an earlier 180-day moratorium and is intended to give county officials time to determine how data centers should be regulated and how local resources and residents can be protected. Board Chairman Skip Alston said the county wants to be prepared if developers submit proposals, although no company was seeking to build a data center in the county when the vote occurred.
Residents at public hearings called for a longer pause and raised concerns about clean water, air quality and quality of life. Nearby Greensboro has separately paused applications for data centers larger than 10 megawatts. The broader debate includes research by NC State University, supported by the North Carolina Collaboratory, into potential effects on water resources, stream flows and lake levels, as well as state recommendations to examine energy and water-use reporting requirements.