Dem Senate hopeful pivots on data centers as rising power costs collide with campaign

Despite having once applauded the growth of data centers during his tenure as North Carolina governor, Democratic Senate nominee Roy Cooper is now pitching voters with ways to reel in their expansion as he wages a bid for U.S. Senate.

He has framed his stance as a part of his “make stuff cost less” campaign.

“We need to make sure data centers pay for their own power and we need to encourage them to build their own energy sources because right now that’s causing rates to go up for consumers and we can’t have that,” Cooper said in an interview with local media.

Cooper’s shift in position makes him the latest Democrat to fold the data center issue into affordability concerns — efforts to position themselves as the champions of bringing costs down by getting companies to shoulder the brunt of their utility usage.

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Notably, the bulk of North Carolina’s tax breaks already existed by the time Cooper came into office as governor in 2017.

The year before, in 2016, the state had implemented statute G.S.105-164.13. Under that provision, lawmakers had expanded data center tax exemptions on taxes for sales, servers, storage and networking. To qualify, companies would have to invest at least $75 million in projects over five years.

According to research from CBRE, a commercial real estate firm, the investments have paid off, bringing a 15x jump in data center construction that largely began to spur growth during Cooper’s term as governor.

“Several trends are influencing the data center industry, including emerging markets for development due to tax incentives, advancements in renewable energy, power availability and a need for accelerated construction completion timelines,” the group said in its report.

In one especially notable case, Cooper’s administration went further.

Unlike most companies that qualified for the state’s general tax breaks, Apple received more incentives from North Carolina in 2019 in the form of a Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG). The grant aimed to further the company’s data center development in Maiden, North Carolina, according to the tech giant’s 2019 annual report.

Through the JDIG agreement, the company secured an $845 million grant over a period of 39 years alongside another $112.4 million that would go to an industrial development fund to build out rural infrastructure.

At the time, Cooper celebrated the announcement, touting in a press release that the project was estimated to create 3,000 jobs.

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“Innovation has long been North Carolina’s calling card and Apple’s decision to build this new campus in the Research Triangle showcases the importance of our state’s favorable business climate, world-class universities, our tech-ready workforce, and the welcoming and diverse communities that make so many people want to call North Carolina home,” Cooper said.

“This announcement will benefit communities across our state, and we are proud to work together to continue to grow our economy and bring transformational industries and good-paying jobs to North Carolina.”

Also during Cooper’s time as governor, companies like Meta, Corvid Technologies, GIGA, Microsoft, Segra and Google all either completed projects or announced new data center expansion in North Carolina. State reporting found that between 2015 and 2025, 37 companies had secured state tax exemptions. Like Apple, Corvid Technologies also received a JDIG: a $9 million reimbursement from the state spread over 12 years that would facilitate the construction of two, three-story data centers, according to a press release. The company also was set to partner with local groups like Duke Energy, a utility company.

Cooper praised that development, although he didn’t mention the data centers themselves.

“North Carolina is the perfect choice for Corvid, thanks to our world-class universities, major military installations, and highly skilled workers,” Gov. Cooper said. “I’m pleased Corvid decided to keep growing right here by bringing more, good-paying engineering jobs and its headquarters to Mooresville,” Cooper said.

A few years later, developments like the one with Corvid have flipped on their heads as figures like Cooper’s successor, Gov. Josh Stein, have pointed to data centers as a driver of rising utility costs through providers like Duke.

“Duke Energy’s proposed rate hike is simply too high and comes as the company is also retreating on more affordable clean energy. At a time when families are struggling to make ends meet, we should be doing everything we can to make life more affordable, not less,” Stein said at a press conference earlier this year.

“I will continue to fight on behalf of every North Carolinian to lower costs and grow the economy.”

Cooper has also joined those calls, touting his work in pushing back against rising utility pricing.

“As Governor and Attorney General, I put aside party politics to fight utility cost increases for North Carolinians. I vetoed a Senate bill that prioritized higher profits for utility companies over more cost-effective energy solutions. And I battled Duke Energy in court to get their profit margin lowered,” Cooper said in a press release last month.

Notably, Cooper hasn’t called for an outright ban on data centers, but has strongly advocated that they be required to pay more directly for their energy consumption.

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“The companies that build these data centers must pull their own weight, pay for the power they use and completely remove this burden from North Carolina families and small businesses. We must encourage companies that build data centers to also build their own power sources, which will help reduce utility costs for consumers,” Cooper added.

Asked about his shifting rhetoric around data centers, the Cooper campaign stressed that he believes local communities should set the bar for how they want to approach data center expansion restrictions.

“Roy believes local communities must have the final say on new projects coming to their area which includes local moratoriums, and data centers must pay for all of the energy they use without passing on any of their costs to consumers. Longtime utility company lobbyist Michael Whatley believes people’s concerns about data centers are fake as he continues to shill for his billionaire buddies in the utility industry instead of standing up against rate hikes that are crushing hardworking families,” a spokesperson for the campaign said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

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Having cleared his primary, Cooper heads to the state’s general election on Nov. 3.