Graded Light and tightening. 19 laws, orders, rulings and local actions, each with its source, reviewed 23 October 2026.
No large-load study or connection rule is in force; the Duke settlement filed 6 Oct 2026 awaits a commission ruling.
The Duke large-load settlement (6 Oct 2026) with 75% minimum bills and upfront payments is pending, so no binding term applies.
Charlotte (8 Jun 2026), Raleigh (6 Oct 2026), Durham County, Cary, Chatham, Orange and Apex are all paused, covering the main markets among 50-plus pauses.
The July 2026 budget repealed the sales tax exemption on data center electricity while keeping the equipment exemptions.
No water reporting, air permit or disclosure rule is in force; SB 730's study requirements sit in Senate Rules.
Scored on rules in force, 1 to 5. 5 is the most regulated. Pending rules set the arrow.
North Carolina moved from recruiting data centers to pulling back in 2026. The state budget signed in July ended the sales tax exemption on data center electricity while keeping the equipment exemptions, and the governor has proposed phasing the rest out by the end of 2032. Duke Energy and the Public Staff filed a large-load tariff settlement on 6 October 2026 that the Utilities Commission has not yet approved; consumer and clean energy groups say its upfront payments and exit terms are too weak. At least 50 local governments, including Charlotte and Durham County, have adopted temporary moratoria, though Forsyth County rejected one in early October after its attorney warned of a lawsuit.
The Utilities Commission could rule on the Duke large-load tariff settlement (dockets E-7 Sub 1329 and E-2 Sub 1380) as early as November 2026, with rate case orders for Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress also due this fall; the attorney general and governor are pressing for tougher exit and upfront payment terms. Senate Bill 730 passed the House in June 2026 and has sat in Senate Rules since 8 June, and HB 1213 is parked in House Energy and Public Utilities; further exemption rollbacks and a 'bring your own clean energy' law are expected to be argued in the 2027 session, and advocates asked lawmakers on 13 October for a two-year hyperscale moratorium that no legislator has filed. Davidson County votes on a four-month moratorium on 26 October 2026, Charlotte's 150-day pause expires 5 November with an extension of up to 11 months expected, Raleigh's six-month pause runs to draft rules in November and final action on 6 April 2027, and Columbus County is weighing a 120-day pause. Legal risk is now slowing new moratoria after a developer won a challenge in Chatham County.
No statewide moratorium, but 5 local pauses are in force as of 23 October 2026, in Charlotte, Chatham County, Orange County, Wendell, Apex, Davie County, Durham County, Raleigh. Proposals and expired pauses are not counted.
Tightening. North Carolina is graded Light, which means incentives in place and few new obligations. Electricity tax break repealed; Duke large-load tariff awaits commission ruling. The outlook above says what is pending.
North Carolina sits in PJM and TVA and Southeast utilities. The grid operator decides how a new large load is studied, what it must bring or pay, and whether it can be curtailed first; the state decides siting, permits, tariffs and incentives.
Yes. North Carolina has paused, narrowed or ended a data center incentive in 2025 or 2026: 2026 state budget ends sales tax exemption on data center electricity; Governor proposes phasing out all data center tax exemptions; House Bill 1213, full repeal of the data center sales tax exemption.
On Genloop's five-line rubric (1 least regulated, 5 most) North Carolina scores grid connection 1, power rates 2, siting and land use 4, tax treatment 3, permits and water 1, a mean of 2.2. The most regulated line is siting and land use: Charlotte (8 Jun 2026), Raleigh (6 Oct 2026), Durham County, Cary, Chatham, Orange and Apex are all paused, covering the main markets among 50-plus pauses.
19 items: each is a law, order, tariff, ruling, utility action or local decision that changes what a data center must do, pay or disclose, or where it may be built. Failed and pending measures are marked. Each links to its source.
Charlotte City Council approved a 150-day moratorium on data center projects on June 8, 2026. It expires November 5, 2026; at an October 12 public hearing on extending it by up to 11 months most council members said they would vote for the extension, and no vote had been reported as of October 23.
Source: wfae.orgCity Council voted 7 to 1 on October 6, 2026 to pause approvals of large data centers for six months while staff write rules; a proposed exemption for facilities up to 5 MW drew objections, and activists wanted 32 months. Draft regulations go to public comment November 16 with final council action set for April 6, 2027. Cary adopted an 18-month moratorium in August.
Source: wunc.orgFiled with the Utilities Commission on October 6, 2026 in the Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress rate dockets (E-7 Sub 1329, E-2 Sub 1380). Covers customers above 50 MW that run near peak and any customer above 150 MW, with a monthly minimum of at least 75 percent of projected demand, an upfront payment for dedicated facilities and damages for early exit; customers that contracted with Duke on or before June 1, 2026 are exempt. Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Meta support it; Attorney General Jackson called it a massive step forward on October 14 but said he and the governor will push for stronger terms. A commission ruling could come in November 2026.
Source: wfae.orgOn 7 October 2026 the Southern Environmental Law Center, for the NC Justice Center, NC Housing Coalition, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and Vote Solar, said the settlement filed the day before is too lenient. They support the minimum bill but say upfront payments fall well short of grid upgrade costs and that customers could exit by paying about 25 percent of remaining costs. They asked the commission for a stronger tariff and a clean transition tariff.
Source: selc.orgCommissioners voted 5-2 against a six-month pause on new data center proposals, reported on 1 October 2026. The county attorney warned of a likely lawsuit and pointed to Chatham County, where a developer successfully challenged a moratorium imposed after its project was under way. The report says at least 50 North Carolina local governments have adopted moratoria in recent months.
Source: wunc.orgCommissioners held a public hearing on 5 October 2026 on pausing approvals for data centers and other high-intensity computing in unincorporated areas for 120 days. The outcome was not confirmed. Whiteville, Southport and Boiling Spring Lakes already have temporary moratoria.
Source: wect.comOn October 13, 2026 Piedmont Environmental Alliance, Yadkin Riverkeeper, No Data Center Rural Hall and the Carolina Federation asked state lawmakers for a two-year statewide moratorium on hyperscale data centers. No bill has been filed and lawmakers are not considering a moratorium; Stokes County meanwhile approved a hyperscale project.
Source: wfae.orgAfter a 3-3 deadlock in August, commissioners voted 4-2 on 28 September 2026 to put a four-month data center moratorium on the 26 October agenda.
Source: wunc.orgMount Airy commissioners voted unanimously on July 16, 2026 for a 60-day pause on new data center projects, following similar moratoria in Surry and Davie counties. A 60-day pause from July 16 ran out in mid-September 2026; no extension was found.
Source: whqr.orgCommissioners voted 4-1 on 24 August 2026 to bar new hyperscale data centers for nine months while staff write permanent rules. Enterprise and small facilities of up to 100,000 square feet may still proceed.
Source: govtech.comGovernor Stein signed the budget in early July 2026. It repeals the sales and use tax exemption on electricity bought by qualifying data centers, worth about $21.4 million in fiscal 2026-27, and keeps the exemptions for equipment and other capital purchases.
Source: datacenterknowledge.comDavie County commissioners passed a one-year moratorium on data center development in early July 2026.
Source: whqr.orgThe July 2026 settlement between Duke, the Public Staff, EDF and others in the Duke Energy Carolinas rate case committed Duke to file a large-load tariff by the end of September in an expedited proceeding. The tariff settlement was filed October 6, 2026. A final commission order on the rate case is expected in fall 2026.
Source: blogs.edf.orgGovernor Stein's office proposed in June 2026 to end the electricity exemption and new applications at the end of 2026, require 2026 applicants to reach the $75 million investment threshold by the end of 2028, and sunset the remaining sales tax exemptions at the end of 2032. Only the electricity piece was enacted in the budget.
Source: wunc.orgPassed the House 69 to 44 on June 3, 2026 as a committee substitute. For data centers with peak demand of at least 100 MW it would require direct utility contracts that keep costs off other customers, ban local incentives and evaporative cooling, require noise and environmental studies, and bar ownership tied to China, Iran, Russia or North Korea. It also carries wider energy provisions. The Senate referred the House version to its Rules Committee for concurrence on June 8, 2026 and has taken no action since.
Source: ncleg.govBipartisan bill filed April 30, 2026 to repeal the exemption outright. House Finance reported a committee substitute favorably on June 30, 2026 and re-referred it to Energy and Public Utilities, where it has not moved. Current law requires a $75 million investment over five years; 37 data centers have qualified since 2015.
Source: ncleg.govChatham County adopted a 12-month ban on data center and crypto mining construction in February 2026, Orange County a one-year pause in April 2026, Wendell a moratorium through 31 December 2026, and Apex a one-year suspension after Natelli Investments withdrew its project in March 2026. Durham County followed with a nine-month pause in August 2026. Harnett and Cumberland counties and Fayetteville were considering their own as of April.
Source: wral.comThe governor's task force reported on 16 February 2026. It recommended large-load tariffs with monthly minimums, collateral and long contracts, a fiscal review of data center tax breaks, monitoring of water and energy use, load flexibility and 'bring your own clean energy' options.
Source: wfae.orgThe town denied an application for a data center on a 50-acre site in September 2025. Edgecombe County then added data center rules to its development ordinance in November 2025.
Source: wral.comNeed the capacity sooner than the queue allows? Every unit in the register is held by Genloop, restored and re-warrantied, and can move on your timeline.
Fast-track power →