Data Center Census Near me

Microsoft Mega Park

Person County, NCDeveloper: Microsoft

Also known as Person County Mega Park, Project Energy

ProposedMicrosoft says the project is in the planning phase with early site preparation underway; the county said in February 2026 that permitting would begin later in the year
  1. Rumored
  2. Proposed
  3. Approved
  4. Under construction
  5. Operating

Microsoft plans a data center campus on the Person County Mega Park in Woodsdale Township on the North Carolina-Virginia border, where Person County announced in October 2024 that Microsoft had purchased 1,350 acres. County officials had signed nondisclosure agreements with the buyer, and Microsoft and local officials confirmed the data center plan on February 24, 2026. Microsoft says the project is in the planning phase with early site preparation underway, and it hosted a meeting with neighbors on June 30, 2026.

Key facts

Size & schedule

Site size1,350 acres [1]
WRAL [4] gives 1,385 acres: "Earlier this year, Microsoft said it was moving forward with developing the 1,385-acre Person County mega site"
Source excerpt
“The technology firm acquired the 1,350-acre Person County Mega Park in Woodsdale Township back in November 2024, reportedly paying $26.85 million for the land.”

How big is that? Data center sizes compared with football fields and Central Park.

Water

CoolingAir-cooled chillers with a closed, recirculating water loop [2]
company statement
Source excerpt
“Our new datacenters in Person County are expected to reduce water use by relying on air‑cooled chillers that use a closed, recirculating water loop rather than traditional water‑intensive cooling methods.”

Figures are as stated by the cited source. Where sources disagree, each figure is shown.

Timeline

  1. Person County's economic development liaison starts an email thread under the subject line 'Project Energy', according to The Assembly [3]

  2. At a commissioners meeting, the county's economic development director confirms the county signed nondisclosure agreements with the prospective buyer [3]

  3. Person County announces Microsoft has purchased 1,350 acres in Woodsdale Township [3]

  4. Person County announces that Microsoft plans to start the data center permitting process later in the year [1]

  5. Microsoft and local officials confirm the Mega Park site will be the future home of a data center [3]

  6. Microsoft says the project is in the planning phase with early site preparation underway, including road work tied to permanently closing Country Club Road, expected to last until late summer 2026 [2]

  7. Microsoft hosts a meeting with neighbors about the planned Microsoft Mega Park [4]

Issues raised

  • Nondisclosure agreements kept the buyer's identity from the public until the land sale was announced [3]
  • The Assembly reports about 400 of the approximately 1,350 acres were designated wetlands, leaving 948 usable acres [3]
  • Reported land price varies: $27 million (The Assembly), a reported $26.85 million (DatacenterDynamics) and $28.85 million (WRAL) [1][3][4]
  • The Assembly reports Duke Energy was already in the permitting process for a new gas plant in the county when the project became public; it says the Person County Energy Complex will feed Duke's broader Carolinas grid [3]
  • The county says Microsoft has promised to pay its own way so its development does not increase electricity prices and to minimize water use [1]
  • Residents at the June 2026 meeting raised concerns about energy and water use and noise; a Roxboro city councilor said her main concern was how much water the facility would draw from the city of Roxboro [4]
  • The Assembly reports that the rezoning passed the commissioners on August 5, but the passage does not state the year [3]

Issues are concerns and claims raised by the parties, officials or residents named in the cited sources. They are reported as attributed, not as findings by the Census.

Sources

  1. Microsoft to start permitting for 1,385-acre data center campus in North Carolina
    DatacenterDynamics · Feb 25, 2026 · news
  2. Person County datacenter project - Microsoft Local
    Microsoft · May 1, 2026 · company
  3. The Data Center That Didn't Exist
    The Assembly · May 12, 2026 · news
  4. Microsoft hosts meeting on future Person County data center amid AI tensions
    WRAL · Jun 30, 2026 · news

Cite this page

Last updated Sep 24, 2026. Figures may change as records are updated — include the date you retrieved them.

APAData Center Census. (2026). Microsoft Mega Park. Retrieved from https://datacentercensus.com/dc/microsoft-person-county-nc
MLA“Microsoft Mega Park.” Data Center Census, Sep 24, 2026, https://datacentercensus.com/dc/microsoft-person-county-nc.
Linkhttps://datacentercensus.com/dc/microsoft-person-county-nc

Republishing a figure or table? Attribute it to Data Center Census with a link to this page. The underlying data is downloadable as JSON and CSV; the press kit has standing figures and contact details.