North Carolina

The North Carolina House voted 69-44 Wednesday to pass a data center bill that also pushes the state toward more nuclear power.

Republicans advanced a rewritten version of Senate Bill 730, now titled the "Ratepayer Protection Act", after it cleared two committees on Tuesday. Reps. Matthew Winslow (R-Franklin) and Dean Arp (R-Union) unveiled the new language late last month. The chamber adopted an Arp amendment clarifying the definition of a data center and letting the state Department of Environmental Quality set water-use standards for the facilities.

The energy provisions drew the sharpest fight. Existing baseload power plants could not be retired until replaced with nuclear resources, which skeptics warned could take decades and would remove limits on fossil fuels in the meantime. House Democratic Leader Robert Reives (D-Chatham) faulted the GOP for bolting energy policy onto a data center bill, and the majority defeated a motion to split the two. The measure now heads to the Senate.

Scarborough, Maine

The Scarborough Town Council imposed a data center moratorium Wednesday night.

The 180-day pause gives the town time to weigh changes to its zoning ordinance, and it applies retroactively to any application filed on or after April 1. In April, developer Daniel Dickinson proposed a master plan for a data center on a 52-acre site called Scarborough Technology Park, which local officials rejected as incomplete.

Residents lined up to back the moratorium, and several councilors signaled support for keeping data centers out of town for at least a few years. Water consumption and protection of the town's beaches and marsh dominated the public comment.

Hoffman Estates, Illinois

The Hoffman Estates Plan Commission voted 4-2 Wednesday to reject a rezoning sought for a new data center after a nearly three-hour meeting that spilled into the hallway.

The developer had already been turned away in Naperville before bringing the same pitch to Hoffman Estates, requesting a zoning change for a site at Higgins Road and Route 59. Construction is already underway at two other data center sites in the village, and residents who packed the room were overwhelmingly opposed to a third.

Flint, Michigan

A Flint City Council committee advanced a one-year moratorium on data centers in a 5-1 vote.

The resolution would temporarily halt new applications, site plan reviews, permits, construction proposals and renovations tied to data centers for 12 months. During that window, Flint's Planning and Development Department would review existing zoning rules and draft potential regulations.

The measure cleared the Governmental Operations Committee and now moves to the full City Council for further review.

McMinnville, Tennessee

The McMinnville Board of Mayor and Aldermen approved an 18-month moratorium on data centers Wednesday, following more than 90 minutes of public comment.

The pause gives the city time to study the infrastructure, environmental and noise impacts of the facilities. Planning Director Sean Garrett said McMinnville chose a moratorium over an outright ban so that future rules would be legally defensible, warning that a ban lost in court could leave the city unable to regulate water, power or noise. The ordinance also covers Bitcoin mining and microchip manufacturing facilities.

Mayor Ryle Chastain said the city has issued no permits to date, though a company has expressed interest in building locally. No company representative spoke during the session. A second reading is set for the board's next meeting, and the moratorium could be extended.

Niagara Falls, New York

The Niagara Falls City Council voted Wednesday to approve a settlement that ends a years-long dispute and clears the way for Niagara Falls Redevelopment to build a $1.48 billion data center.

Under the agreement, NFR will donate a portion of land near Falls Street and John Daly Boulevard back to the city, and the city must take the steps needed for NFR to begin developing what it calls the Niagara Digital Campus. The city will also pay NFR more than $4 million for costs tied to the donated property and cannot use that land for purposes that compete with the project.

The fight dates to November 2021, when Mayor Robert Restaino moved to secure part of the long-vacant NFR land through eminent domain for a public space called Centennial Park. NFR countered in June 2022 with a request for zoning changes to build the data center, drawing resident concerns over environmental impact and energy use.

Wythe County, Virginia

A developer plans a gigawatt-scale data center complex in eastern Wythe County, off Interstate 81 near the Pulaski County line.

Charlotte-based TAC Data Centers would need more than 1,000 megawatts of power capacity, enough to supply roughly 730,000 average homes, for a campus of nine to 11 buildings spanning 3.5 million to 4 million square feet on about 1,000 acres. The site sits near 765-kilovolt transmission lines in Appalachian Power's territory. Because Wythe County has no zoning, the project will not require rezoning approval, though it will need local building permits and state environmental permits.

This is the second data center proposed for the county of roughly 28,000 residents, after Solis Arx's planned 99-acre development in Progress Park. TAC, a subsidiary of Atlanta-based The Ardent Companies, projects 150 to 200 permanent jobs and several thousand construction jobs, with the first half of the complex online by 2029.

Imperial County, California

Imperial County supervisors weighed a resolution Tuesday that would end "by-right" approval for data centers then tabled it for reconsideration in two weeks.

On Granicus: Regular Meeting Of The Board Of Supervisors Tuesday, June 2, 2026

The proposal, led by Board Chairwoman Peggy Price and Vice-Chairwoman Martha Cardenas-Singh, would strip by-right development across all unincorporated county lands, subjecting data centers to discretionary review and California Environmental Quality Act analysis. Only projects inside pre-approved Specific Plan areas would be exempt.

The draft guidelines also call for a 1,000-foot setback from homes, schools, daycares, hospitals, parks and churches, local hiring and apprenticeship commitments, and participation in a Good Neighbor Community Benefit Agreement Program. Supervisors directed staff to return with a revised proposal, and officials stressed the framework neither approves nor rejects any specific project.

Denton, Texas

The Denton City Council took a first step Tuesday toward a possible temporary moratorium on data centers, voting to direct staff to gather information.

District 2 council member Nick Stevens pitched a future work session on how the city handles data center applications, asking staff to research a pause on new filings so officials can evaluate infrastructure demand, environmental impact and financial return. Denton already hosts two AI data centers: Core Scientific's hyperscale facility and QumulusAI's planned modular center.

The mayor's seat and a Place 5 seat were empty during the vote, with both in runoff elections through June 13. Stevens framed the effort as a broader policy push, saying that if residents do not want the facilities, the conversation ends there.

Allentown, Pennsylvania

Allentown City Council voted Wednesday night to table Bill 20, a proposed ordinance to set zoning rules for AI data centers, after close to four hours of testimony from a standing-room-only crowd.

Most residents did not oppose regulation; they argued the bill did not go far enough. As written, it would permit data centers in the General-Industrial and Industrial Manufacturing districts by special exception and set standards such as setbacks from homes and businesses. Critics pushed for the use to be confined to Industrial Manufacturing zones and for larger setbacks, citing county guidance recommending at least 1,000 feet from homes.

Council directed its solicitor to review, before the June 17 meeting, whether a municipal curative amendment could pause new applications for 180 days. The debate ran alongside a separate proposal from Langan Engineering to convert a 224,000-square-foot warehouse on West Emaus Avenue into a data center, which any new rules would not affect.

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