Data Center Coalition Ad Campaign in North Carolina Runs Into 61% Public Opposition
A trade group funded by Amazon, Microsoft and Google is running advertising in North Carolina under the name North Carolina Connects without disclosing its involvement, Inside Climate News reported. The group behind the campaign is the Data Center Coalition, whose membership also includes smaller firms that build, support or operate the facilities.
The coalition's finances have tracked the industry's expansion. Federal tax records cited by Inside Climate News show it launched as a nonprofit in 2019 with total revenues of $304,000, and reported $4.6 million in revenue in 2024.
Public sentiment has moved against new construction in the meantime. An Annenberg Public Policy Center survey of 1,320 U.S. adults, polled from mid-June through mid-July, found 61 percent opposed the construction of new data centers in their area, 12 points higher than the share recorded in a February-March survey.
That opposition is showing up in local rules. Approximately one in seven U.S. counties now has some form of restriction on data centers, according to Jeremy Solomon of Learnewable, who told Inside Climate News that advertising will not win the public's trust.
The coalition's pitch in North Carolina rests on fiscal contribution. Citing public documents, the group says data centers generate $1.3 billion in state and local tax revenue in the state.
The North Carolina Connects ad omits a detail on the tax side of that argument. Until early July, when the state legislature repealed an exemption for data centers, most paid no sales tax on electricity.
Source: insideclimatenews.org (opens in a new tab)1 sourcePermalink