File legislation creating a statewide zoning classification for data centers with minimum standards for community engagement, environmental review, and conditional permitting. No more counties making this up as they go... shoehorning data centers into heavy manufacturing because nothing else fits, then accidentally opening a dozen other sites to by-right development with no public process.

Other states are already doing this: Maryland overrode the governor's veto to pass a mandatory data center impact study and is advancing bills requiring transparent public approval
processes and operator disclosure reports. New York introduced a statewide moratorium on permits for data centers over 20 MW until a Generic Environmental Impact Statement is completed. Over 300 data center bills were filed across 30+ states in just the first six weeks of 2026. Four NC counties have already enacted their own temporary moratoriums because the state won't act.

Statewide minimum requirements for benefit sharing, clawback provisions, and public reporting that apply to every deal. Same rules everywhere. No more race to the bottom between counties trying to outbid each other with your money.
 

Require a percentage of tax savings to flow into a locally controlled Community Betterment Fund. Not a corporate donation. Not a PR gesture. A fund the community controls and decides how to spend. Broadband. Schools. Infrastructure. Whatever the community actually needs.
 

Other states are already doing this: Cedar Rapids, Iowa negotiated exactly this. Google pays $400,000/year for 15 years into a city-managed Community Betterment Fund. QTS contributes up to $18 million over 18 years. The city council decides how the money gets spent. Indiana passed HB 1333 (2026) requiring data centers to share 1% of their sales tax exemption savings with local governments. Cleveland has required Community Benefit Agreements since 2013,
including local hiring targets, mentorships, and apprenticeships.

Create a dedicated electricity rate class for large data center facilities so they pay their own way on the grid. No more shifting infrastructure costs onto residential customers. If you're
consuming a small city's worth of electricity, you should be paying for the infrastructure to deliver it.
 

Repeal the worst provisions of SB 266, the "Power Bill Reduction Act." Two problems with this bill. First, it's shifting at least $24.8 million in fuel costs from industrial customers onto families.
Second, it eliminated the interim carbon reduction target from the NC Carbon Plan, which pushes Duke Energy toward 40% more natural gas generation through 2050. NC State
researchers found that if gas prices rise, that decision alone could cost ratepayers up to $23 billion in added fuel expenses. And data center expansion is one of the things driving gas prices up.

On top of all that, the bill lets Duke Energy charge customers for power plants before they're even built. If the project goes over budget or never gets finished, ratepayers are still on the hook. South Carolina learned that the hard way... stuck paying $9 billion for a nuclear plant that was never completed.
 

Other states are already doing this: Oregon signed the POWER Act (2025), creating a dedicated electricity rate class for facilities using 20+ MW. They must sign 10-year contracts, pay for new transmission infrastructure, and cover minimum energy costs. Passed with bipartisan support. Virginia's SCC approved a new GS-5 rate class (Nov 2025) requiring 14-year contracts and minimum 85% of contracted distribution and transmission demand. Pennsylvania's PPL Electric reached a settlement (2026) requiring data centers to pay all infrastructure costs, contribute $11 million to low-income ratepayer assistance, and commit to 10-year operations with early-exit penalties.

Here's the math nobody talks about. A Food & Water Watch analysis of Virginia's economic development data found that creating one permanent data center job requires nearly 100 times more investment than a non-data-center job. These projects create temporary construction work, a handful of HVAC and security positions, and then a skeleton crew with management flown in from somewhere else.
 

If a facility is consuming a small city's worth of electricity, tax benefits should be tied to a minimum ratio of permanent local jobs to energy consumption. Fall below it, benefits phase out.
And require actual workforce development... apprenticeship programs, internship pipelines, partnerships with local community colleges. Not "we'll try to hire locally." Real commitments with real numbers.
 

Other states are already doing this: Virginia's JLARC found data center tax exemptions cost the state $1 billion in FY2024, up from $685 million the year before. $2.7 billion total over the
past decade. The Virginia Senate is now proposing to phase out the exemption. Georgia tried to suspend new data center tax exemptions in 2024. The governor vetoed it. In 2026, a bipartisan package would repeal the incentives entirely. North Carolina hasn't even started this conversation.