As the list of counties and municipalities pausing development on data centers grows in North Carolina, Microsoft is aiming to smooth the path to getting one built in Person County.
The company hosted a meeting with neighbors in the county on Tuesday. Neighbors were asked to share their concerns and questions about the planned Microsoft Mega Park in the Woodsdale Township on the Virginia border.
While the company shared few details about the meeting ahead of time, Microsoft in the past said it plans to “pay its own way” to ensure its data center development doesn’t increase electricity prices. Microsoft is also expected to invest in local information technology training and nonprofits, the county said.
Microsoft has spent billions of dollars on data centers and other infrastructure required to develop artificial intelligence technology. Microsoft President Brad Smith has been meeting with federal lawmakers this year to examine ways for industry, not taxpayers, to pay the full costs of data centers.
Earlier this year, Microsoft said it was moving forward with developing the 1,385-acre mega site, which the Redmond, Washington-based company paid $28.85 million for in 2024.
The meeting comes as the pushback against tech companies looking to build data centers in the state grows. An Elon University poll released this spring found just 24% of North Carolinians support a data center being built in their community.
Across central North Carolina, several counties and municipalities have passed moratoriums on planning and development of data centers,
Proposals for hyperscale data centers built to support artificial intelligence and cloud computing are driving unprecedented demand for electricity and water. That surge is reshaping long-term energy planning, raising new questions about who bears the environmental and financial costs of keeping the grid running.
In September, Person County residents asked for transparency from Microsoft on the community impact, economic benefits and environmental effects on the planned megasite. The company said it will not use traditional water intensive cooling methods, but clean-water advocates remain skeptical about the plan.
The Associated Press, CNN and WRAL staff contributed to this report.