North Carolina lawmakers proposed legislation in May 2026 that would require large-scale data centers operating in the state to cover the electricity infrastructure costs associated with their power demand rather than spreading those costs across all ratepayers through utility bills.
The proposed Ratepayer and Resource Protection Act targets facilities with peak electricity demand of at least 40 megawatts, a threshold roughly equivalent to the power needed for 32,000 homes, or annual water use exceeding one billion liters. Qualifying data centers would be required to pay cost-based electric rates, fund the transmission and distribution infrastructure built to serve them, and generate at least 25% of their electricity on-site using clean energy sources.
Supporters of the bill argue that North Carolina's rapid data center expansion has begun transferring significant infrastructure costs onto households and small businesses through utility rate increases. North Carolina State University research released in May 2026 found that data center electricity demand growth could increase power costs for some US regions by up to 57% by 2030, with eastern North Carolina among the most exposed areas.
North Carolina's average residential electricity rate was approximately 13.9 cents per kilowatt-hour as of May 2026, roughly 23% below the national average of 18.05 cents. Backers of the legislation argue that without policy intervention, those below-average rates could rise substantially as utilities invest in generation and transmission capacity to serve hyperscale facilities.
The bill would also restrict local governments from offering tax incentives to data center developers, removing a tool that counties have used to attract investment. Amazon's announced $10 billion cloud campus in Richmond County, North Carolina, represents the kind of project that has drawn scrutiny over public subsidy practices.
Source: WUNC -- https://www.wunc.org/politics/2026-05-21/nc-bill-data-center-regulations-local-governments-incentives