Greensboro council members share concerns about data centers
News Clip0:57Greensboro News & Record·Greensboro, Guilford County, NC·5/5/2026
Greensboro Councilwomen Cecile Crawford and Crystal Black voiced significant concerns about data center development's impact on their districts, citing high electricity demands, inadequate tax incentives, and health risks. They emphasized the need for equitable policies and stated their intention to halt further data center expansion in District One. The council plans to develop new policies to address these issues.
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Gov: Greensboro City Council
Greensboro, North Carolina -- Greensboro District 2 Councilwoman Cecile Crawford and District 1 Councilwoman Crystal Black have voiced serious concerns regarding the potential impact of data center development on their communities. Speaking to the issue, Councilwoman Crawford highlighted her district's existing challenges, including a legacy of landfills, historic disinvestment, and a higher baseline for health risks. She pointed out that data centers bring unaffordable electricity demands and tax incentives that do not benefit the local residents.
Councilwoman Black echoed these sentiments, emphasizing the need for equitable policy creation. She stated that District One, which already bears a significant burden of the city's harms, "can't take it all" and declared, "we're going to stop it with data centers." Both councilwomen indicated that the council plans to engage in conversations and develop policies to regulate data center development, specifically demanding that these policies incorporate an equity framework. The discussion underscores a growing local government pushback against unchecked data center expansion, particularly concerning environmental justice and economic benefits for residents.