I-Team digs into potential effects of data centers in the Triangle, nationwide: 'A huge concern'

APEX, N.C. (WTVD) -- The ABC11 I-Team is investigating growing questions about the potential effects of data centers in the Triangle and North Carolina.

Data centers power much of daily life in the 21st Century, and the need for these facilities is growing across the country.

It's resulting in growing concerns from communities near these types of facilities, including those in the New Hill and Jordan Pointe communities in Apex.

What's fueling a nationwide need for data centers

Harvard Law School Electricity Law Initiative Director Ari Peskoe said the nationwide demand for data centers is only increasing.

"We're seeing data center expansion is now a nationwide phenomenon," he said.

The exact definition of a data center can be broad. It could be a room with a handful of computers, or a large-scale facility that Peskoe said uses as much electricity as a city.

"Connecting them to the power grid often involves building billions of dollars of new infrastructure to generate enough power for them and also to deliver that power to the data center," he said.

Dan Diorio is the vice president of state policy for the Data Center Coalition. He said consumers and businesses will need twice as much data in the next five years as they did in the past 10 years.

"Data centers are everything we do every day. It's how we work. It's how we learn. It's how we communicate. It's every telehealth appointment, every virtual classroom," he said.

Diorio said the need for data centers keeps growing as AI technology, cloud infrastructure, and the need for data grows.

"It's become an essential component of the U.S.' global economic competitiveness," he said. "We need to maintain and keep pace with other countries that are building out digital infrastructure."

Data centers worry some North Carolinians

North Carolina is home to some large-scale hyperscaler data centers.

According to the ABC News Data Team analysis of information provided by a group called Data Center Map, eight hyperscale data centers power an Apple campus in Maiden, a Meta campus in Forest City, and a Google center in Lenoir.

The largest operational data center in the Tar Heel State is the T-5 Data Center in Kings Mountain near Charlotte. The center uses as much electricity as just about every home in Durham County combined.

Chatham County leaders approved a one-year moratorium on the construction of data centers in the county.

Just across the Wake County border in Apex, residents have been vocal against a proposal to bring a 190-acre data center to an area near old US Highway 1.

Michelle Hoffner O'Connor lives in the Jordan Pointe neighborhood.

"Why would I want that anywhere near my home? If we have to have a data center, it has to be much further away from residential areas," she said.

She and other neighbors worry about a variety of potential issues, including water usage, rising electrical costs, and potential pollution from diesel generators.

"The sound, not the high pitch, but the low pitch is a huge concern based on where I live, the pollutants from the generators, even if they're running infrequently," said Hoffner O'Connor.

Concerns about potential energy costs related to data centers are even catching the attention of Gov. Josh Stein in Raleigh.

During an NC Strong update last week, Stein said his Energy Policy Task Force will determine ways to prevent customers from footing the bill tied to infrastructure upgrades to the grid.

"How do we deal with these data centers? I think what we can do is make sure that whatever new costs are needed, whether it's in terms of generation of new power or transmission of that power by those data centers, they should bear the cost," he said.

Still, with rapid buildout meeting today's demands, some also told the I-Team they worry about the future of data centers.

Lorraine McAvoy lives in New Hill on the Chatham County side, and lives near the proposed data center. She worries about water usage and electrical costs, but said she worries about the future of data centers as developers rapidly build them across the country.

"What happens in five to 10 years when the technology changes? What happens to these buildings? What happens to that?" she said.

The I-Team contacted the team behind the proposed Apex data center during the past few days for a comment about this story.

At this time, it has not returned a request for comment.

After a recent public hearing on the project, one of the developers said, "We're working really hard to come up with a program that really standardizes what we need to do to ensure that we're not impacting neighboring properties in a negative way."

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