As North Carolina communities increasingly push back against data center development, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Michael Whatley has questioned whether that opposition is real.
“This opposition to data centers is not organic,” Whatley said in an interview with Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade. “This is being ginned up.” Whatley also said governments should offer data center developers tax breaks, though not direct subsidies.
Polling and local action across North Carolina tell a different story.
An August Elon University Poll found that 53% of North Carolinians oppose data centers in their communities, compared with just 20% who support them. Opposition had grown nine points since March.
That concern is increasingly visible at the local level.
Durham County commissioners approved a nine-month moratorium on new large-scale data centers in August after residents raised concerns about water and energy use, noise, pollution and other potential impacts. In September, more than a dozen Raleigh residents urged their city council to pause data center development as well.
At least 47 North Carolina local governments had adopted temporary pauses as of early September.
Whatley’s position has also drawn scrutiny because of his own financial interests. The former utility industry lobbyist has investments in companies that could benefit from data center growth, including Duke Energy, according to his personal financial disclosure.
President Donald Trump has taken an even more forceful position. He recently said communities that reject data centers risk becoming “backwards and poor,” while encouraging communities to “let Data Reign.”
But Trump has also given Republicans room to disagree with him on the issue, creating what Charlotte Observer columnist Paige Masten described as a rare opportunity for Whatley to break with the president on an issue generating bipartisan concern.
So far, Whatley has instead questioned the legitimacy of the opposition itself, even as more North Carolina communities consider restrictions on the industry.
