Data-center law in North Carolina

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 160D-705

Applies to both

Where a zoning ordinance conditions a use on a special use permit, the board of adjustment, planning board, or governing board hears and decides the permit application under this section, which also sets the conditions the local government may and may not attach. The current codified text has been amended repeatedly since Chapter 160D's 2019 creation, most recently in 2025, with no single stated commencement date for this form of the section.

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N.C. Gen. Stat. § 160D-702

Applies to both

A local government may adopt zoning regulations governing the height, size, and location of buildings and structures, lot coverage, density, and land use; this power reaches development on land owned by the State as well as private land. The current codified text has been amended in nearly every session since Chapter 160D's 2019 creation, most recently in 2025, with no single stated commencement date for this form of the section.

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N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 113A-1 to 113A-13

Applies to government

Requires a detailed environmental statement from a State agency, addressing direct and unavoidable environmental effects, mitigation, alternatives, and irreversible impacts, but only for a recommendation or report on an action involving significant expenditure of public money or use of public land for a project significantly affecting environmental quality. This duty attaches to a State agency's own action rather than to private discretionary approvals generally, unlike California's CEQA.

A privately funded project on private land that needs only local permits is therefore ordinarily outside its scope. The Act originated in 1971 and has been amended repeatedly since; the codified text states no single commencement date for its current form.

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N.C. Gen. Stat. § 62-110.1

Applies to both

No public utility or other person may begin construction of a facility for generating electricity for public utility service without a certificate from the Utilities Commission that public convenience and necessity requires the construction. For a certificate to construct a generating facility by an electric public utility, the Commission must find that the facility is part of the least-cost path to the state's authorized carbon-reduction goal and will maintain or improve grid reliability.

The current codified text originated in 1965 and carries a multi-decade amendment history with no single stated commencement date for this form of the section.

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N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-138

Applies to both

Establishes the statewide North Carolina State Building Code, adopted by the Building Code Council, applicable throughout the State from the time of adoption and enforced by local building officials. The current codified text originated in 1957 and carries a multi-decade amendment history with no single stated commencement date for this form of the section.

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N.C. Gen. Stat. § 113A-57

Applies to both

Land-disturbing activity that will disturb more than one acre requires an approved erosion and sedimentation control plan filed at least 30 days before the activity begins, and requires erosion control devices sufficient to retain sediment on the tract during construction. The Act originated in 1973 and has been amended repeatedly since; the codified text states no single commencement date for its current form.

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N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-215.108

Applies to both

No person may establish or operate an air contaminant source, or build or operate equipment likely to cause air pollution, without a permit from the Environmental Management Commission. A backup diesel or gas generator fleet permits under this section. The current codified text originated in 1973 and carries a multi-decade amendment history with no single stated commencement date for this form of the section.

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N.C. Gen. Stat. § 105-164.13(55), (55a); § 105-164.3(79), (201)

Applies to private

North Carolina exempts from sales and use tax the electricity used at, and specified equipment located and used at, two categories of datacenter.

Subdivision (55) exempts electricity and eligible business property at an eligible internet datacenter, defined at section 105-164.3(79) as a facility used primarily by a software-publishing or internet-activity business where the Secretary of Commerce has made a written determination of at least $250,000,000 in private investment within five years of construction commencing.

Subdivision (55a), added later, separately exempts electricity and datacenter support equipment at a qualifying datacenter, defined at section 105-164.3(201) as requiring a written Commerce Department determination of at least $75,000,000 in private investment within five years, a wage-standard certification for the datacenter's development tier area, and a certification that the datacenter provides health insurance for its full-time employees.

A taxpayer that fails to make the required investment, or that puts the exempted property or electricity to a disqualifying use, forfeits the exemption and owes past taxes plus interest. These two live provisions are subsections (55) and (55a); a datacenter exemption is not found at a subsection (55b) of this statute. This section's own amendment history runs through 2025 with no single stated commencement date for its current form.

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