Durham was set to pick an environmental board member. Why data centers delayed it.
The Durham City Council delayed appointing Jefferson Crawford to the city’s Environmental Affairs Board after residents objected to his professional connections to utilities and data center-related work. The council sent the appointment back for further consideration, leaving the seat vacant, while Durham’s city and county governments maintain temporary bans on large-scale data center development.
The Durham City Council postponed its appointment of Jefferson Crawford to an at-large seat on Durham’s Environmental Affairs Board after nearly an hour of public comments and debate. Residents, including members of the Stop Data Centers in Durham Coalition, questioned whether Crawford’s utility-sector background and work involving hyperscalers and data centers could create a conflict with the board’s environmental advisory role. Crawford previously worked as a contractor for Duke Energy and now works for the Tennessee Valley Authority.
The Environmental Affairs Board had recommended botanist and community advocate Elizabeth “Liz” Kreick, citing her experience with native plants, pollinators and pest management. Council members returned the appointment for further consideration rather than selecting either candidate, and Crawford said he planned to meet with the board to address what he called mischaracterizations of his work. Durham has enacted a 12-month moratorium on large-scale data centers, while Durham County has imposed a nine-month ban.