Data Center Moratorium

At a glance

• What: a public hearing on Aug 17, 2026 on a county moratorium on data centers in the unincorporated area, which has no zoning. Dozens of residents spoke, nearly all urging a moratorium (most asking two years) plus a citizens' working group and enforceable rules on water, power, noise and setbacks; a minority asked for targeted regulation instead of a pause.
• Where it stands: the county attorney presented a draft ordinance with a staff work program; commissioners favored a moratorium, asked for a trigger about 60 days before it ends, and discussed a one-year term. A motion and second were made at the end of the hearing but the vote result is not in the captions. A Sept 21 commenter referred to the one-year moratorium as a good move, which suggests it passed; confirm in the minutes.
• Next: staff work program (deadlines doubled in the revised draft), a decision before the term ends on extending, adopting rules or letting it lapse, and related unified-development and heavy-industry ordinance work; pending state legislation may also matter.
• Earlier: at the Aug 3 meeting residents and a river keeper urged water, stormwater and zoning safeguards ahead of the hearing, and commissioners said they wanted a moratorium so they could study impacts (2026-08-03 - Board of Commissioners).
• Video: 2026-08-17 - Board of Commissioners - Public Hearing on Data Center Moratorium.

The draft moratorium

• Presented by Rik Stevens: must state the reason, the development covered and a work program with milestones; cannot be a pause for its own sake or it risks challenge; the board can shorten, extend or rescind it.
• Revised during the hearing to double work-program deadlines and add a requirement to consider changes to development regulations before it ends. Questions remained on who studies the issue (staff, permitting and inspection, possibly outside experts) and on budget.

Positions heard

• For a moratorium: water, grid and rate costs, noise and health, farmland and wildlife, few permanent jobs, no zoning to fall back on, and calls to refuse non-disclosure agreements. Candidates Ramona Allen and Kourtney Royster spoke; Sam Powell supported a moratorium.
• Against or qualified: industry-experienced speakers said closed-loop cooling and proper rate design address many fears and that the county should measure impacts and write specific rules; some said a pause could be shorter than two years.
• Commissioners said non-disclosure agreements would violate the ethics code and that they would not sign them.

Discussion time

About 179 minutes across 3 meetings (from transcript timestamps; approximate).

Log

• 2026-09-21 - Board of Commissioners — A resident called the county's one-year moratorium a good move and asked for a working group and setbacks; no board action on the item at this meeting.
• 2026-08-17 - Board of Commissioners - Public Hearing on Data Center Moratorium — Public hearing: dozens of residents, most urging a moratorium (two years requested most often); the county attorney presented a draft with a work program; commissioners favored a moratorium with a 60-day trigger and discussed one year; a motion was made and seconded, result not captioned.
• 2026-08-03 - Board of Commissioners — Public comment ahead of the Aug 17 hearing on water use, stormwater enforcement and lack of zoning; commissioners said the county cannot ban a project outright, the planning board is finishing a unified development ordinance, and the board wants the moratorium to study impacts.
• 2026-10-21 - Page created from public town materials and news coverage (retrieved 2026-10-21); no meeting transcript processed yet.
• 2026-07-20 - Board of Commissioners — Residents, a Mebane city council member and the Haw River Assembly urged a moratorium; one resident opposed more regulation. The county attorney explained the notice and hearing requirement; a quorum favored a six-month to one-year moratorium and the board agreed to notice a public hearing for the August 17 evening meeting (from captions).