Apex Town Council to Hold Public Hearing on Proposed Data Center Moratorium

One month after Natelli Investments pulled its proposal for a massive data center in New Hill, the Apex Town Council will consider a ban on similar proposals for the next year. 

The 12-month moratorium would give council members time to decide whether they want to allow data centers to be built in Apex, and if so, under what conditions. A public hearing is set for April 14. 

A few towns and counties across North Carolina, including Boone, Canton, and Kings Mountain, have instituted similar moratoriums on data centers. In Chatham County, just across the border from the proposed site for Natelli’s data center, officials approved a one-year moratorium in February.

The Natelli proposal, a 250-megawatt facility near Shearon Harris Nuclear Plant, resulted in waves of opposition from community members. Many voiced concerns about the impact a data center would have on the environment and their quality of life. Some Apex residents also worried about the proposed data center’s effect on traffic and the cost of living.

In some communities, hyperscale data centers like the one proposed by Natelli have resulted in rising power bills for neighboring residents (as demand for energy in the area spikes), drain on the community’s supply of water (as data centers use massive amounts to keep servers cool), worsening air quality due to generators, and disruptive noise. 

Developing Data Center Regulations

Assuming the one-year moratorium is approved, a proposal for new data center regulations could come before the town council early next year, before the moratorium ends.

What these regulations should be, and how they should be developed, has been the subject of intense debate among Apex officials and community members. 

Many residents argue they should have more of a voice in the process, while some council members say the public engagement already conducted by staff is enough. At a town council meeting in March, Mayor Jacques T. Gilbert proposed creating a new committee made up of residents and experts to make data center policy recommendations.

The rest of the town council overruled that idea, however, voting to let the town’s Environmental Affairs Board (EAB) take the lead. At the EAB’s meeting on March 19, members voted to create a subcommittee to lead the research and public engagement process, hearing from subject matter experts and ultimately developing new regulations. 

The EAB subcommittee is composed of board chair Mark Schwegel and board members Melissa Ripper, John Garrison, Suzanne Mason, and Bill Jensen. 

The EAB is set to present its full plan for conducting research and public engagement by May 9. But at its recent meeting, several members expressed support for a process similar to the development of the Western Big Branch Area Plan, which would rely heavily on town staff to collect public input and draft formal policy language. 

In this process, the EAB subcommittee would hold monthly meetings to hear from staff, subject matter experts, and the public. Each meeting would focus on a specific topic, such as air and water quality, energy consumption, or public health. Town staff presented an early draft of a possible meeting schedule leading up to the town council reviewing and approving new regulations next year.

Subject matter experts would be chosen by town staff, but town planner Bruce Venable said they are “open to recommendations” from the EAB. 

When choosing subject matter experts, the town typically looks to its staff first, said Venable. For example, Electric Utilities Director Kathy Moyer could come to an EAB meeting to speak. After that, the town would look to other government agencies like the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality. The town prioritizes established experts currently working in their particular field, Venable said. 

When asked by an EAB member if Apex residents could act as subject matter experts, Venable said: “I’ll honestly have to confer with my director and also legal staff, to find out exactly who should be presenting as a subject expert sponsored by the town. There may be obstacles to that.”

But, he added, there will be opportunities for members of the public to speak throughout the process. 

Staff would also dedicate time to meet virtually or in-person with members of the public, to “open a dialogue on the topics of interest.” Information from these discussions would then be relayed to the EAB. In addition, staff would create an email subscription list for community members who want to receive updates, including “regular updates from EAB meetings where the data center amendments are discussed.”

In the meantime, community members can weigh in on the proposed moratorium during the town council’s next meeting at 6 p.m. on April 14. Residents can attend in-person or watch the meeting on YouTube. 

“A proposed moratorium on data center construction touches land use, utility demands, traffic and our long-range planning near the Shearon Harris area,” council member Terry Mahaffey wrote in a late March newsletter. “Your input will help shape the outcome.”

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