Catawba County

Updates, newest first

1. June 23, 2026 Microsoft Catawba County data centers · The county and its partner towns issued a joint statement saying the sites will pay property tax on full value, the local agreements are being amended, Hickory supplies the water, and the sites are expected to use about 1% of Hickory's daily water capacity. (Catawba County Government, June 23, 2026)
2. Feb. 27, 2026 Microsoft Catawba County data centers · Building permits issued in November and December 2025 listed about $909 million in construction value, and crews were back at the sites, according to The Charlotte Observer's review of permit records as summarized by Hoodline. (Hoodline (citing The Charlotte Observer), Feb. 27, 2026)
3. April 16, 2025 Microsoft Catawba County data centers · Microsoft said it had pushed back the timeline for some of the Catawba County work without giving a new schedule. (WSOC-TV / Charlotte Business Journal, April 16, 2025)
4. Feb. 24, 2025 Apple Maiden data center · Apple said its $500 billion U.S. plan includes added data center capacity in North Carolina; the county economic development chief said Apple had invested more than $4 billion locally and had not shared specifics. (Catawba County EDC (reposting The Charlotte Observer), Feb. 24, 2025)
5. Nov. 2022 Microsoft Catawba County data centers · Catawba County, Conover, Hickory, Maiden and the county economic development agency announced Microsoft's plan to invest at least $1 billion in four data centers over 10 years (as recounted in the county's 2026 statement). (Catawba County Government, June 23, 2026)

Statewide

G.S. 105-164.13(55a) exempts from state sales and use tax the electricity and support equipment (power, cooling, servers, networking) for a qualifying datacenter: one where the Commerce Secretary finds at least $75 million will be invested within five years and that meets a wage standard for its area and provides health insurance to its full-time employees; the older (55) exemption covers eligible internet datacenters investing $250 million in lower-tier counties. (North Carolina General Assembly, Oct. 20, 2026; North Carolina General Assembly, Oct. 20, 2026) Senate Bill 730, the Ratepayer Protection Act, was rewritten in the House to require utilities to contract with large data centers so they cover the cost of serving them; the House passed it 69-44 on June 3, 2026, and the Senate sent it to its Rules Committee on June 8 with no further action recorded. (North Carolina General Assembly, Oct. 20, 2026; Carolina Journal, June 4, 2026) Duke Energy reached a settlement in October 2026 in its rate cases (NCUC dockets E-7 Sub 1329 and E-2 Sub 1380) making an existing tariff mandatory for data centers and other customers that use large amounts of power nearly all the time, with upfront payment for dedicated facilities such as substations; it would not apply to contracts signed on or before June 1, 2026 and needs Utilities Commission approval. (WUNC / WFAE, Oct. 7, 2026; WUNC / WFAE, Oct. 14, 2026) Local moratoriums rest on G.S. 160D-107; Orange County cited it, and a Superior Court judge ruled in September 2026 that Chatham County's moratorium could not halt a project already under way. (Orange County, N.C., April 21, 2026; NC Newsline, Sept. 22, 2026) North Carolina data centers →