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Residents press Person County commissioners for answers on Microsoft data center
Summary
Residents and Clean Water advocates told commissioners they lack answers about Microsoft’s purchase of a 1,385-acre site and the planned data center, raising concerns about secrecy, water and power use, noise and possible tax abatements; county staff said some material is now on Microsoft’s site and that Person County did not offer tax incentives.
Public commenters at the May 4 Person County Board of Commissioners meeting pressed the board for transparency and concrete information about Microsoft’s October 2024 purchase of a 1,385-acre site intended for a data center.
Julie Nye, who said she lives in southeastern Person County, told commissioners she and other residents are “especially concerned that so much to date has happened in secret,” and asked for disclosure about electricity demand, water use, noise, air emissions from standby generators, and whether tax abatements had been granted.
Hope Taylor, statewide executive director of Clean Water for North Carolina, delivered a petition signed by hundreds of residents that the group had submitted to the county attorney and Microsoft. “We, the undersigned residents of Person County, are writing to express our concerns about Microsoft’s October 2024 purchase of the 1,385 acre mega park in Person County,” Taylor said, and urged timely replies that would open a continuing dialogue about the project’s local impacts.
Ronnie Murray, who described nine years in public utilities work and current employment with the North Carolina Rural Water Association, raised technical concerns about water and power demand and possible localized warming effects from large data centers. He said that neighbors raising livestock and bees, and homeowners who rely on private wells, deserved clearer answers about environmental and public-health risks.
County staff acknowledged that Microsoft has posted some basic project information online but that detailed design and operational plans remain under development. The county manager stated: “The county did not provide tax incentives to Microsoft,” and staff said they would make the materials currently on Microsoft’s site available in printed form and via county social media. The manager also said Microsoft’s website indicates the company expects its new data centers in Person County to reduce water use “by relying on air cooled and chiller systems rather than traditional water intensive cooling methods.”
Commissioners did not take action on the project at the meeting. Several residents and the Clean Water representative said they want formal responses to a list of specific questions about water sourcing, wastewater discharge, projected electricity demand and potential financial impacts on residential customers if new generation capacity is required. The county’s public information officer said staff will continue to update the public as Microsoft provides further details.
What happens next: county staff will continue coordinating with Microsoft on public updates and the board’s manager said a social-media link to Microsoft’s project page will be posted; residents who provided petitions requested direct responses to the written questions they submitted.
