Commissioners report Mecklenburg data center site visit; discuss jobs, water, power and tax impacts for county planning

Members of the Southampton County Planning Commission reported on a December field trip to a Mecklenburg County data center and accompanying training center, which commissioners said offered lessons for local planning on industrial siting, workforce development and infrastructure.

Unidentified Speaker (S4), who led the report, described the site as a 'pad-ready' industrial location with water, roadway and a substation in place. He said the building they toured was roughly 250,000 square feet and compared in scale to a single-story 'supersized Walmart.' He summarized that construction can take about two years for such large centers and that long-term staffing at a finished data center is modest compared with construction phase workforce: 'they didn't say exactly how many, long term basis...but just looking at the cars, at least about 40 to 50 people,' S4 said.

Commissioners pressed presenters on noise and water. S4 said inside the facility noise from fans was loud but 'outside the building, didn't hear anything,' and described the cooling system as drawing from a town distribution system into a water tower and recirculating the water rather than a continuous fresh-water draw.

S4 reported fiscal figures that were presented during the visit: he said the data center represented '40% of their tax base,' that the county had so far received '$10,000,000 from that data center,' and that presenters estimated '$200,000,000 in their general fund in 10 more years.' S4 also said the county used some data-center-driven revenue to build a $38,000,000 elementary school and projected long-term reserves. Commission discussion noted these were presenter estimates and that some technical specifics (detailed water usage and precise tax formulas) were not disclosed by the presenters.

The commission highlighted the training partnership with a local community college that runs a mock training center; S4 said Microsoft and other partners help prepare students and sometimes hire them early from programs. Commissioners noted both opportunities (workforce development, tax revenue for schools) and trade-offs (infrastructure needs for power and water, transmission-line impacts and potential local resistance). Unidentified Speaker (S2) warned the state legislature could change local control over siting decisions, a factor commissioners said they would watch.

Commissioners agreed the trip was informative and suggested staff continue to gather data and consider a future field trip for members who did not attend.

The meeting included no formal decision to pursue a data center in Southampton County; the discussion was an informational briefing for future consideration and planning.