During a special meeting Wednesday, Chatham commissioners unanimously approved a 12-month moratorium on data centers and cryptocurrency mines. The policy applies to the county’s unincorporated areas and will last through February 2027, or until the county approves new zoning regulations.
“Our goal is to protect residents, natural resources, and quality of life,” board chair Amanda Robertson was quoted as saying in a statement Thursday, “while we develop clear, thoughtful standards that reflect today’s technologies and align with the County’s long-term vision.”
More data center developers have looked to build in North Carolina over the past year as artificial intelligence and cloud computing have propelled nationwide demand in these sites. This projected technological gain has come with resident concerns over the amount of water and electricity these centers consume. Grassroots community groups have formed to oppose data center projects across North Carolina, including in southwestern Wake County, near the Chatham County line.
According to the International Energy Agency, a 100-megawatt data center uses as much water as roughly 2,600 U.S. households.
“Resources and cost of living” are main constituent worries, Chatham County Commissioner Franklin Gomez Flores told The News & Observer in a phone interview Thursday. A day earlier, before the vote, more than two dozen people made public comments to the board. The county says it will seek additional community input during the moratorium.
Gates County, in northeastern North Carolina, was state’s first county to enact a one-year data center moratorium. Its local board of commissioners unanimously approved the pause in December. The same month, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont called for a national permitting pause.
Lawmakers in at least a half-dozen states have thus far introduced proposals to postpone new data center approvals.
© 2026 The Herald-Sun (Durham, N.C.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
