Despite having once applauded the growth of data centers during his tenure as North Carolina governor, Democratic Senate nominee Roy Cooper is now pitching voters with ways to reel in their expansion as he wages a bid for U.S. He has framed his stance as a part of his "make stuff cost less" campaign. "We need to make sure data centers pay for their own power and we need to encourage them to build their own energy sources because right now that’s causing rates to go up for consumers and we can’t have that," Cooper said in an interview with local media.
Cooper’s shift in position makes him the latest Democrat to fold the data center issue into affordability concerns — efforts to position themselves as the champions of bringing costs down by getting companies to shoulder the brunt of their utility usage. AI'S MASSIVE APPETITE FOR POWER, WATER IGNITES FIGHT IN HIGH-STAKES TEXAS SENATE RACE Notably, the bulk of North Carolina’s tax breaks already existed by the time Cooper came into office as governor in 2017. The year before, in 2016, the state had implemented statute G.S.105-164.13.
Under that provision, lawmakers had expanded data center tax exemptions on taxes for sales, servers, storage and networking. To qualify, companies would have to invest at least $75 million in projects over five years. According to research from CBRE, a commercial real estate firm, the investments have paid off, bringing a 15x jump in data center construction that largely began to spur growth during Cooper’s term as governor.
"Several trends are influencing the data center industry, including emerging markets for development due to tax incentives, advancements in renewable energy, power availability and a need for accelerated construction completion timelines," the group said in its report. In one especially notable case, Cooper’s administration went further. Unlike most companies that qualified for the state's general tax breaks, Apple received more incentives from North Carolina in 2019 in the form of a Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG).
The grant aimed to further the company’s data center development in Maiden, North Carolina, according to the tech giant’s 2019 annual report. Through the JDIG agreement, the company secured an $845 million grant over a period of 39 years alongside another $112.4 million that would go to an industrial development fund to build out rural infrastructure. At the time, Cooper celebrated the announcement, touting in a press release that the project was estimated to create 3,000 jobs.
ONE OF THE WORLD'S HOTTEST INDUSTRIES IS SPARKING A BLUE-COLLAR JOBS BOOM "Innovation has long been North Carolina’s calling card and Apple’s decision to build this new campus in the Research Triangle showcases the importance of our state’s favorable business climate, world-class universities, our tech-ready workforce, and the welcoming and diverse communities that make so many people want to call North Carolina home," Cooper said. "This announcement will benefit communities across our state, and we are proud to work together to continue to grow our economy and bring transformational industries and good-paying jobs to North Carolina." Also during Cooper’s time as governor, companies like Meta, Corvid Technologies, GIGA, Microsoft, Segra and Google all either completed projects or announced new data center expansion in North Carolina. State reporting found that between 2015 and 2025, 37 companies had secured state tax exemptions.
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