As communities across North Carolina raise concerns about the rapid expansion of AI data centers, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Michael Whatley is defending the industry and questioning whether public opposition is genuine.
In Stokes County, residents of Walnut Cove are fighting a proposed data center development that would cover nearly three square miles of land. The project has sparked concerns about water consumption, electricity costs, pollution, and the impact on the rural community.
The opposition has crossed party lines. In a county where nearly 80% of voters supported Donald Trump in 2024, NPR found Republicans and Democrats alike questioning the development.
“We’re a little worried about it, yeah,” said Republican resident Chris Simpkins, citing concerns about water, noise, and air pollution.
Local hardware store owner Bill Petree, a Democrat who has organized opposition to the project, questioned whether the promised economic benefits would outweigh the costs.
“They fail to realize that this is not going to be an economic benefit to this area. It’s just going to be a detriment to everything else,” Petree said.
Despite community concerns, the all-Republican Stokes County Commission voted 3-2 to approve the development. A lawsuit forced commissioners to reverse their initial decision, but they subsequently voted in favor again. The project still requires state environmental approval and a major technology company to commit to the site.
As opposition grows, Whatley has dismissed the backlash as manufactured.
“This opposition to data centers is not organic,” Whatley said during an interview with Fox News host Brian Kilmeade. “This is being ginned up the same way that we saw opposition to energy projects around the country.”
Whatley also expressed support for tax breaks, though not direct subsidies, to encourage data center development. He has separately said communities should not be forced to accept projects they oppose.
His position has drawn scrutiny because of his financial ties to the industry. NBC News reported that Whatley, a former utility industry lobbyist, owns investments in companies that could benefit from data center expansion.
His disclosed holdings in companies connected to the data center industry, including Duke Energy, have been valued at close to a million dollars. Those investments raise questions about potential conflicts of interest as Whatley supports tax policies favorable to the industry, although the disclosures do not establish that he has personally profited from those policies.
Meanwhile, Democratic Senate candidate Roy Cooper has argued that data centers should bear the costs of their electricity needs rather than passing additional expenses on to residential customers.
With communities across North Carolina debating the future of data center development, the issue has become a point of disagreement in the Senate race over economic growth, local control, and who should pay for expanding energy infrastructure.
