North Carolina Regulators Reject Amazon Gas Plant for 21-Building Data Center as Duke Weighs Refile
Updated
Updated · POLITICO · Sep 18
North Carolina Regulators Reject Amazon Gas Plant for 21-Building Data Center as Duke Weighs Refile
1 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Sep 18
Summary
Friday’s rejection blocks Duke Energy’s proposed gas plant for Amazon’s Richmond County data center, an unusual setback that commissioners said was not permanent and could be revisited in a new filing.
Republican commissioners cited Trump’s ratepayer-protection pledge, Duke’s failure to assess reasonable alternatives, and the risk of approving new gas generation before the utility’s long-range energy plan comes up this winter.
57 temporary non-emergency diesel generators already won state permits for one year while the campus connects to the grid, and Amazon separately secured approval for nearly 600 diesel backup units.
Hamlet residents and environmental groups opposed those permits at a July hearing attended by nearly 200 people, warning that emissions from 649 diesel-fired generators would worsen pollution in a community already burdened by industrial projects.
The 21-building campus broke ground last year and is slated for completion in 2029 or 2030, leaving Duke to decide whether to revise the project as scrutiny of data-center power demand intensifies.