Residents packed the Government Center, holding small yellow signs that read “Charlotte Says: No data centers in our city!”
Charlotte's data center moratorium is set to expire on Nov. 5. Monday night, the City Council heard from the public on a proposal to extend the ban on new data center development by up to 11 months.
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Large A.I. and cloud computing data centers have raised alarms over their high energy and water use, as well as other environmental impacts. Akayla Galloway is the executive director of nonprofit The Social Justice Center:
“Data centers and the fossil fuel infrastructure built to power them are not only compounding pre-existing conditions and creating new public health threats, but they are disproportionately burdening Black and frontline communities,” Galloway said.
An American Towers data center expansion project in east Charlotte has catalyzed anti-data center sentiment. The new data storage facility would be much smaller than its hyperscale counterparts, but its proximity to residents and Reedy Creek Nature Preserve has led to concerns over noise, water and air pollution. The moratorium halted permitting for American Towers but hasn’t affected two much larger projects — the Digital Reality Moores Chapel Road facility and the PowerHouse University City facility.
Most speakers supported prolonging the moratorium while the city evaluates policy changes to minimize the harm caused by new, hyperscale data centers. However, many union members spoke in favor of ending the moratorium because new construction could lead to jobs.
Electrician and organizer Melissa Reyes said her union represents 1,000 people who work on data centers in the area.
“I have worked in functioning data centers as well in Forest City, where I’ve seen 100 construction workers working on the site after it’s in operation because they’re always doing upgrades and moving stuff around,” Reyes said.
Most council members acknowledged union workers' concerns but maintained their decision to vote to extend the moratorium.
