News

Pamlico-Tar Riverkeeper Katey Zimmerman was back in Tarboro last week, this time at Carmon Auditorium, the site of the first Data Center Advisory Group meeting.

Led by Edgecombe County Manager Eric Evans, a diverse group of people was invited to join the committee that will weigh in on the issue of data centers in the county. The county is currently considering a proposal from Energy Storage Solutions to build a $19 billion, 900-megawatt data center in the Kingsboro Business Park.

“The first meeting went well,” Katey said. “It was mostly introductions and talking about what the purpose of the group is.”

Those invited to be a part of the group fall into three categories: community members who have expressed support for, opposition to and neutrality toward data-center development; county staff; and subject matter specialists. Katey, as Pamlico-Tar Riverkeeper, falls into the latter category. The goal is to encourage discussion about individuals’ perspectives on data centers, come to a consensus on the issue and advise the Edgecombe County Board of Commissioners.

“They did this same process for solar farms in the county, after so many solar farms were being approved and there was a lot pushback on agriculture lands being lost to solar farms,” Katey said.

While the first meeting was largely limited to introductions, participants were asked to write down and turn in what they hope to get out of the advisory board, as well as hopes and fears regarding data-center development.

Those answers likely varied broadly, according to Katey.

“There are people in the advisory group who have financial interest in the data center,” she said.

Edgecombe County has not yet received a formal proposal for the data center from Energy Storage Solutions.

Some of the issues revolving around data centers include: water quantity (how much water the data center will require and whether the Tar River and Rocky Mount’s water treatment facilities can accommodate the increase); water quality (whether contaminants such as PFAS and heavy metals will be present in the wastewater discharge from the data center); and cost (areas where data centers are operating have seen an increase in the cost of utilities).

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