Moratorium tracker

Data center moratoriums in North Carolina

14 moratorium actions in 13 jurisdictions in North Carolina, newest first: 14 adopted, extended or announced. Each entry links to its source.

Is there a data center moratorium in North Carolina?

No statewide pause for North Carolina is in the tracker; the actions on this page are local. Locally, 13 jurisdictions adopted, extended or announced a pause: City of Charlotte, City of Raleigh, Beaufort County, Vance County, McDowell County, Town of Cary, Edgecombe County, Durham County, Cumberland County, City of Durham, Harnett County, Orange County and Town of Apex. By their own stated length or end date, the pause in City of Durham (60 days, May 4, 2026) has run out unless extended; the tracker has no extension on record.

Statuses are as of each source’s date; check with the jurisdiction before relying on one.

Moratorium actions: 14
Jurisdictions: 13
Adopted, extended or announced: 14
Rejected, lifted or set aside: 0

Every tracked North Carolina moratorium

Jurisdiction	Action	Length	What the source says
City of Charlotte North Carolina · city	Extended Oct 26, 2026	11 months until Oct 18, 2027	Halts approval of new data center permits; existing permits are unaffected. The council voted unanimously on October 26, 2026 to extend the 150-day pause adopted June 8, 2026, which was due to end November 5, 2026. WFAE Source excerpt “Charlotte City Council voted Monday night to extend its data center moratorium by 11 months.”
City of Raleigh North Carolina · city	Adopted Oct 6, 2026	6 months until Apr 6, 2027	Council voted 7-1 for a six-month pause: no new data center site application can be approved and no construction can begin while the city develops standards for larger data centers. Spectrum News 1 Source excerpt “No construction can begin, and no site application can be approved, through April 6.”
Beaufort County North Carolina · county	Adopted Oct 5, 2026	1 year	Commissioners voted 6-1 for a one-year pause: the county will not accept, process or approve applications for establishing, building, expanding or operating a data center while it studies impacts and drafts a permanent zoning ordinance. No data center is currently proposed in the county. WITN Source excerpt “voted 6-1 for a one-year moratorium on data center development.”
Vance County North Carolina · county	Adopted Sep 14, 2026	60 days until Nov 13, 2026	Moratorium on data center development, ending Nov. 13 or when the county amends the data center requirements in its zoning ordinance. WIZS natelli-vance-county-nc Source excerpt “The Vance County Board of Commissioners voted 5-2 to put a 60-day moratorium in place for data center development.”
McDowell County North Carolina · county	Adopted reported Sep 3, 2026	six months	Six-month moratorium on data centers, approved unanimously after a public hearing. WCAB News Source excerpt “After the public hearing closed, commissioners voted unanimously for the six-month moratorium.”
Town of Cary North Carolina · town	Adopted Aug 27, 2026	18 months	Data center development in the town. WRAL Source excerpt “Town council on Aug. 27 unanimously approved an 18-month pause on data center development.”
Edgecombe County North Carolina · county	Adopted Aug 3, 2026	two years	Data centers in the county. WRAL Source excerpt “On Aug. 3, the Board of Commissioners reversed course, approving a two-year moratorium on data centers.”
Durham County North Carolina · county	Adopted Aug 2026	nine months	Nine-month moratorium on new large-scale data centers. WUNC Source excerpt “Durham County commissioners voted 4-1 Monday night to adopt a nine-month moratorium on new large-scale data centers.”
Cumberland County North Carolina · county	Adopted Jun 15, 2026	six months until Dec 2026	Data centers in the county. WRAL Source excerpt “Commissioners adopted a six-month data center moratorium on June 15, which will expire in December.”
City of Charlotte North Carolina · city	Adopted Jun 2026	150 days	Moratorium on data center construction (150 days, per the headline). Axios Charlotte Source excerpt “Charlotte City Council unanimously voted to enact the moratorium Monday night.”
City of Durham North Carolina · city	Adopted May 4, 2026	60 days	Data center planning and development. WRAL Source excerpt “On May 4, city council members passed a 60-day moratorium on data center planning and development.”
Harnett County North Carolina · county	Adopted May 4, 2026	12 months	Data centers in the county. WRAL Source excerpt “The Board of Commissioners voted on May 4 to adopt a 12-month data center moratorium.”
Orange County North Carolina · county	Adopted Apr 21, 2026	one year	Data center construction across the county. WRAL Source excerpt “Commissioners voted unanimously on April 21 to establish a one-year pause on data center construction across the county.”
Town of Apex North Carolina · town	Adopted Apr 2026	one year until Apr 27, 2027	Review or approval of applications for data centers (and associated uses like cryptocurrency mining) until April 27, 2027. INDY Week Source excerpt “The moratorium prevents Apex from reviewing or approving applications for the development of data centers (along with associated uses like cryptocurrency mining) until April 27, 2027.”

Dates are the date of the vote or order where the source gives one; otherwise the entry shows when it was reported. Lengths, end dates and scope appear only where the cited source states them. Expand any row for a verbatim excerpt from its source.

Tracked projects in these jurisdictions

Project	Status	Jurisdiction and action
Natelli data center, U.S. 158 Vance County, NC	Proposed	Vance County: adopted Sep 14, 2026
New Hill Digital Campus Apex, Wake County, NC	Cancelled	Town of Apex: adopted Apr 2026

Matched by county, city or the project a source names. Being inside a jurisdiction with a moratorium does not mean a project is covered; many pauses exempt applications already filed or approved, and a county pause usually leaves incorporated towns free to decide. Some entries above note an exemption their source reports; check each entry’s source for others.

Moratorium actions in North Carolina project records

Date	Action	Project
Sep 14, 2026	Statesville City Council unanimously approves a 180-day moratorium on new data centers in the city; WBTV reports it will not affect previously approved data centers WBTV	Compass Statesville Statesville, Iredell County, NC
Sep 14, 2026	Vance County Board of Commissioners votes 5-2 to adopt a 60-day moratorium on data center development after two public hearings WIZS	Natelli data center, U.S. 158 Vance County, NC
Apr 2026	Apex Town Council unanimously passes a 12-month moratorium on data centers INDY Week	New Hill Digital Campus Apex, Wake County, NC

Permanent rules in North Carolina

No North Carolina ordinance or state law written for data centers is in the rules tracker yet.

More on North Carolina

Other states

Ohio (18) · Michigan (12) · Georgia (11) · California (9) · New York (8) · Maryland (5) · Illinois (4) · Indiana (4) · Kentucky (4) · Minnesota (4) · South Carolina (4) · Texas (4) · Wisconsin (4) · Florida (3) · Missouri (3)

North Carolina data center moratoriums: common questions

Is there a data center moratorium in North Carolina?

How many North Carolina communities have paused data centers?

The tracker records 13 local governments in North Carolina that adopted, extended or announced a data center pause. The tracker lists actions confirmed in a published notice or news report, so it is a floor rather than a complete census.

How long do data center moratoriums in North Carolina last?

Where the source states a length, North Carolina pauses run from 60 days (Vance County) to two years (Edgecombe County).

Which tracked data center projects are in North Carolina jurisdictions with a moratorium?

Natelli data center, U.S. 158 and New Hill Digital Campus. Sitting inside a jurisdiction with a moratorium does not mean a project is covered: many pauses exempt applications already filed or approved, and a county pause usually leaves incorporated towns free to decide.

Know of a North Carolina moratorium we’re missing? Email corrections@datacentercensus.com with a link to the official notice or a report.

Cite this page

Last updated Nov 7, 2026. Figures may change as records are updated — include the date you retrieved them.

APA	`Data Center Census. (2026). Data center moratoriums in North Carolina. Retrieved from https://datacentercensus.com/moratoriums/north-carolina`
MLA	`“Data center moratoriums in North Carolina.” Data Center Census, Nov 7, 2026, https://datacentercensus.com/moratoriums/north-carolina.`
Link	https://datacentercensus.com/moratoriums/north-carolina

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