Charlotte, North Carolina: City Council Extends Data Center Moratorium to October 2027

Charlotte will keep its pause on new data centers in place for another 11 months. The City Council voted unanimously on Monday evening, October 26, to extend the moratorium through October 18, 2027, giving a city task force time to write rules on water use, electricity demand and where the facilities can be built.

The extension covers the acceptance, processing and approval of applications for new telecommunications and data storage facilities in Charlotte and its extraterritorial jurisdiction. The first moratorium, a 150-day pause adopted in June, was set to end on November 5.

What council members said

"In the next 11 months, we will have an opportunity to put guardrails in place to protect our residents, to protect our neighborhoods and to protect water and the electricity grid," Council Member Dimple Ajmera said before the vote.

Council Member Kimberly Owens said she would rather see smart regulations than a moratorium, but said the city is restricted by its inability to downzone. She said she hopes state legislative changes will give the city that authority, and that Charlotte will then move with deliberate speed to put more parameters around data centers.

Council Member Ed Driggs, who supported the extension at a public hearing earlier in October, said the city is starting from scratch and should give itself that time. Driggs said on Monday that if the council reaches a place where it is satisfied with what the new policy should be, it can end the moratorium early.

Why residents pushed for the pause

Local opposition grew earlier this year after American Tower Corp. announced plans to build a 40,000 square foot facility next to a nature preserve. Opponents have filled council meetings and hearings for months, raising concerns about water usage, electricity costs and possible community displacement.

Charlotte is not deciding in a vacuum. More than 90 data centers are operating across North Carolina, with around 40 of them in Charlotte, according to Data Center Map figures cited by Bisnow. More than 50 moratoriums are active in the state, and Raleigh enacted a six-month pause earlier this month. City officials are also waiting to see whether state law changes, which could alter what Charlotte is allowed to regulate.

For residents, the vote means no new data center applications will be accepted or approved in Charlotte for nearly a year while the task force works. Projects already approved are not shut down by the extension. The council can lift the pause early if it adopts new rules it is satisfied with, and the moratorium is now slated to end no later than October 18, 2027.