Data centers account for 80% of anticipated electricity needs through 2030 in Duke Energy’s coverage area, according to a report from North Carolina Health News. They make up just 30% of economic-development projects in North and South Carolina, the North Carolina Energy Policy Task Force reports.
The electricity requirements have sparked pushback statewide. Nurses and environmental advocates assembled outside the General Assembly in Raleigh on July 24, per North Carolina Health News. They opposed the North Carolina AI Leadership Council’s strategic road map for artificial intelligence adoption.
“Duke Energy has received tax breaks for three data centers that it owns, and the utility is proposing a 15 percent rate hike on its North Carolina customers,” Ajamu Dillahunt-Holloway, an N.C. State University assistant professor of African American History and Public History and a North Carolina Environmental Justice Network board member, told the crowd, according to North Carolina Health News…