Ask 13: Where is data center development paused, banned in western North Carolina?
Communities in western North Carolina are enacting temporary moratoriums and bans on data center development due to concerns over electricity, water use, and noise. Several municipalities have adopted new zoning regulations to manage the potential impacts of these facilities.
WLOS News 13 anchor Ahtra Elnashar addressed a viewer's question regarding data center development in western North Carolina. Viewer Mary asked which counties or cities in the region have banned or placed moratoriums on data centers.
Elnashar explained that data centers, large buildings housing computer servers for websites, AI, and cloud services, typically require significant electricity and water for cooling, and can generate substantial noise. For these reasons, many municipalities are choosing to ban or enact temporary moratoriums on their development.
According to the report, numerous communities in western North Carolina have already adopted these measures. While a full list of these areas was not provided in the broadcast, it was mentioned that the details would be available on wlos.com. Rutherford County was cited as an example of a location that hosts a data center, specifically Meta's Forest City facility, which broke ground in 2010. The conversation around data centers is described as fluid, with many cities and counties still considering the pros and cons of this type of infrastructure.