By Joe Angelucci 

The high-tech promise of the artificial intelligence boom has arrived at rural Eastern North Carolina’s doorstep, bringing a heavy mix of anxiety and ambition. In a recent Chowan County Board of Commissioners meeting, local leaders proactively raised a critical question: should Chowan County implement a protective moratorium on data center construction?

Though no tech giant has officially filed a site plan for Chowan County yet, our neighbors in Camden, Gates, and Pasquotank counties have already passed strict moratoriums. Chowan County must join them. Enacting a strategic data center moratorium is not about being anti-progress; it is an act of essential self-preservation to ensure our infrastructure, utility rates, and historic landscape are protected before it is too late.

The temptation to consider these massive server complexes is understandable. In a country where top officials emphasize the “tremendous tax revenue” and economic incentives of AI infrastructure, the dollar signs look attractive. Chowan County has already seen clean-energy investments, such as Google’s power purchase agreement with the Timbermill Wind project near Edenton. But there is a massive difference between harvesting wind from our skies and allowing physical, multi-megawatt server warehouses to drain our local resources.

Data centers are notorious resource gluttons. A single large-scale facility can consume as much electricity as tens of thousands of homes, requiring massive transmission line upgrades. Furthermore, their water-cooling systems can demand millions of gallons of water a day. If Chowan County does not establish protective ordinances now, our local taxpayers risk subsidizing the immense utility infrastructure upgrades required to support these corporations.

Joe Angelucci is a resident of Edenton.

Editor’s NOTE: Though I have strong opinions about data centers, for the sake of the counterpoint, to be fair (view this video from Letterkenny), here’s a column shared by the West Virginia Press Association about data centers:

Facts and Truth are Important

By Greg Kozera
During my corporate life, the company I worked for was part of a crew doing a workover on a gas well. Suddenly we hit something hard, shallower than it should have. Whatever it was, we couldn’t get any deeper. Everything stopped while we all tried to determine what was going on. The first guess was our measurement was off or the pipe tally was wrong. Well records and history were reviewed. 

Phone calls were made to confirm, with well records at the corporate office. An entire morning was wasted trying to solve the problem. I was standing on the rig floor when one of the new rig hands approached me. “Do you think the wrench I accidently dropped down the well this morning could have anything to do with this?” I looked at him in surprise. “Yes.Thanks for letting me know.” 

Once we knew what the problem was it was easy to solve by running a magnet and fishing out the wrench. The young man was either ignorant or afraid to come forward initially. His supervisor never trained him on the importance of truth even if it isn’t pleasant. Knowledge of the truth led to a solution.

When asking for a date in college, if I heard “No”, I knew it was a truthful answer and moved on to ask someone else. A few times I heard “Yes” and found out it wasn’t truthful if the young lady’s “yes” meant, “If I don’t get a better offer.” 

A good friend of mine is an executive for a company who does a lot of work helping companies obtain electric power. I asked him, “What keeps you awake at night?” His response surprised me. “I have to explain to smart people why they need natural gas as a back up fuel because solar panels don’t produce electricity at night.” My friend believes in telling people the truth so they can make the best possible choice. 

The truth isn’t always pleasant. But if we know the truth our actions are based on fact not fantasy. Earlier this month at the West Virgina Chamber’s Annual Business Summit, West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey announced a second data center for Mason County. It is a $12 billion project promised to create construction jobs and tax revenues from income and property tax. He also announced a new natural gas power plant to power the data center creating construction and permanent jobs. We are hearing a lot about data centers.

Some politicians are making them part of their campaign ads. What is fact and what is fiction? Doing my own research, I learned some of what we hear about data centers is at best false or at worst lies. How can politicians who don’t do their homework or choose to lie about data centers be trusted on anything?

Here are some thoughts to ponder; Data centers do need large amounts of electricity, fiber optic connectivity, water management solutions, and limited community disruption. I have seen, heard, and read about people who claim to be anti data centers. I have not seen or heard of any anti data center people who have discarded their computers and smart phones which use AI and data storage from data centers. 

Have they found a doctor or hospital who isn’t using AI or data storage? AI is helping us to fight cancer and other diseases. Are these anti people and politicians telling us our loved ones should be dead? Most people do not understand the importance of data centers and how we use them every day. Many of the data center companies have not stepped up to tell their story. Having a smart phone, TV streaming services, a computer and being anti-data center is hypocritical and dishonest. How we deal with data centers should be based on truth and facts. Not half-truths, lies, and emotion. 

Once we agree data centers are necessary for our national defense, good health, communications, and other modern conveniences we can move forward on how to best manage them. West Virginia has passed legislation requiring data centers to pay for their electricity, grid connections, and improvements. Not rate payers. The new data centers in West Virginia have a closed loop cooling system requiring minimal water usage and discharge. We heard water usage is the equivalent of 6 McDonald’s. Some data centers are planning to use air cooling. Noise is another potential issue that can dealt with by proper site choice and design. Responsible data center companies should be transparent with the public and willing to answer questions well in advance of construction. Many of the public’s concerns can be eliminated with effective communication and proper site selecition. The question should be, “How can we have the benefits of data centers with a minimum of disruption?” All of us working toward a common goal will resolve the issue like we did at the well site once we know the facts. 

At Shale Crescent USA we continue to do follow up work from leads we received at our overseas Roadtrips and SelectUSA. Our focus continues to be energy intensive manufacturers while the states focus on data centers. Three Asian manufacturers are planning visits this fall. This week I talked to a European manufacturer who we have known for almost 2 years. They reached out to us to confirm their interest in the USA and our region because of our natural gas and growing market they do not have in Europe. Most of the manufacturers we work with require a significant amount of electricity. They will use our abundant natual gas to produce the power to manufacture products we are currently importing from places like China. Two new natural gas power plants for West Virginia were announced at the Business Summit. I also learned natural gas from our region is now going to Ghana replacing wood and animal manure for cooking, improving the health of countless women and children. You should know the truth. Our natural gas is making a local and global difference.

Greg Kozera, gkozera@shalecrescentusa.comis the Director of Marketing for Shale Crescent USA. He is a professional engineer with a Masters in Environmental Engineering and over 40 years of experience in the energy industry. Greg is a leadership expert, high school soccer coach, professional speaker, author of four books and many published articles.

Editor’s Note — I’ve covered the data center issue more than any other journalist in Northeast NC. Here are a few of the stories I’ve written:

Gates commissioner returns from data center meetings with caution, concerns

‘I believe small rural communities deserve to have their voices heard’ — Camden County Commissioners Unanimously Approve Moratorium on Data Centers

Chowan County commissioners weigh pros and cons of data centers, though none is on the table yet