Fact Check: Where Michael Whatley and Roy Cooper stand on data centers
The booming industry of data centers in North Carolina has made its way into the state’s contested U.S. Senate race. Large data center projects have sparked bipartisan backlash, with cities including Charlotte passing moratoriums while navigating what to do with potential projects in the long term.
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Former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley are staking out their positions on the issue in the U.S. Senate race this November.
Roy Cooper’s campaign platform includes a pledge to “make sure data centers pay the full cost of all the power they use and prevent costs from being passed on to consumers.” He also says “local communities should be fully involved in any decision made about potential data centers in their neighborhoods.”
Asked if Cooper supports data center moratoriums or bans, campaign spokesman Jordan Monaghan told The Charlotte Observer the candidate “believes local communities must have the final say on new projects coming to their area which includes local moratoriums.”
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Michael Whatley told Fox News in August that “you’ve got to make absolutely sure that there’s not going to be a disparate impact on the community when it comes to water, when it comes to traffic, when it comes to electricity.” He added, “opposition to data centers isn’t organic” and “is being ginned up.”
Whatley says it makes sense to have tax breaks for data centers but not subsidies. He believes data centers should “pay their own way” and that people should “decide what gets built in their communities,” campaign spokesman DJ Griffin told the Observer.
“That means Big Tech builds or buys every megawatt it needs and covers every dime of the grid upgrades to deliver it, with zero costs shifted onto residential ratepayers. It means no special subsidies and no sweetheart deals cut over the heads of taxpayers,” Griffin said in a statement.
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