Data center development has become one of the fastest-growing and most capital-intensive sectors in the country. AI-driven compute demand, cloud expansion, and the proliferation of edge and distributed computing are driving investment at a scale that existing systems weren’t designed to handle.
Securing land and power is no longer the hard part. The harder questions are whether utility and permitting processes can keep pace with project timelines, whether political and community dynamics will support or complicate long-term development, and whether facilities are positioned to meet growing demand for secure hosting, colocation, AI compute, and mission-critical capacity from federal agencies and other institutional customers.
Federal oversight of the sector is distributed across multiple agencies — with the Department of Energy tracking national energy load growth, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regulating grid interconnection and utility rates, the Environmental Protection Agency managing emissions permitting, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security treating data centers as critical infrastructure subject to physical and cyber threat frameworks. That fragmented regulatory landscape adds another layer of complexity to projects already contending with local zoning, utility coordination, and community opposition.
Those dynamics vary by facility type — from enterprise and colocation sites navigating local approvals to hyperscale campuses requiring transmission upgrades, large-load tariff policies, and long-term utility commitments.
Vertex helps data center developers, operators, investors, technology vendors, and federal contractors move through the political, regulatory, utility, procurement, and stakeholder environments where these projects are actually won or lost.
North Carolina Spotlight
- Duke Energy has disclosed roughly 6 GW of data center demand in its Carolinas pipeline — with individual projects reaching 300 MW to 2 GW — straining transmission infrastructure, utility capacity, and grid planning across the state.
- An estimated $64 billion in U.S. data center projects have been canceled or delayed since 2023 due to local opposition and permitting battles — a dynamic playing out sharply in North Carolina, where at least six communities have adopted or are pursuing moratoria, including Chatham, Orange, Northampton, and Durham counties and the Town of Apex, while Charlotte debates its own construction freeze.
- North Carolina Senate Bill 730 (Ratepayer Protection Act), which advanced through the House Energy Committee in May 2026, would prohibit foreign ownership, ban development incentives and eminent domain, require operators to cover electricity and infrastructure costs, and mandate local impact assessments — creating significant compliance and political risk for developers and investors.
Specialty Areas
- Federal and state legislative engagement on data center policy — including siting and moratorium legislation, tax incentive oversight and reform, large-load cost allocation, ratepayer protection, water use disclosure and permitting requirements, and demand response program requirements
- Site acquisition, development, and entitlements strategy — including brownfield redevelopment, zoning and land use, annexation, agricultural conversion, easements, eminent domain, noise and light ordinances, stakeholder and community engagement, moratorium navigation, and political risk management
- Federal data center acquisition and government workload strategy — including agency modernization priorities, GSA acquisition pathways, secure hosting and colocation requirements, contractor positioning, appropriations strategy, procurement timing, compliance considerations, and agency engagement around private-sector data center, AI compute, and mission-critical infrastructure capacity.
- AI, high-performance computing (HPC), data privacy, and data residency policy — including energy consumption mandates, efficiency standards, data localization, government workload compliance, facility strategy, and emerging federal and state regulatory developments
- Power availability and transmission strategy — including large-load tariff navigation, grid interconnection and co-location policy, and North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) proceedings
- Permitting, agency engagement, and environmental requirements strategy — including NEPA review, Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act permitting, NCDEQ Title V operating permits, NPDES compliance, RCRA hazardous waste management, GHG and carbon reporting, and related federal and state requirements
- Economic development and incentive strategy — including community benefits agreements, property tax abatements, sales tax exemptions, program advocacy, and legislative monitoring as these programs face increasing scrutiny
- Advanced nuclear and small modular reactor (SMR) policy — including deployment-enabling legislation, utility coordination and regulatory engagement, and NRC licensing strategy
- Foreign ownership, investment, and CFIUS review strategy — including critical infrastructure classification, operator and investor screening, military-adjacent facility considerations, and sensitive government or defense workload assessments
- Government and regulatory risk factors affecting project insurability and financing — including public policy developments, regulatory changes, and compliance requirements that influence project approvals, lender conditions, and long-term viability
Relevant Regulatory & Government Bodies
Federal
- Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
- General Services Administration (GSA)
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
- Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC)
- U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
- U.S. Senate & House Energy, Commerce, and Appropriations Committees
North Carolina
- Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC)
- ElectriCities of North Carolina
- Local Governments, Planning Boards, Municipal Utility Authorities, and Economic Development Authorities
- North Carolina Department of Administration (NCDOA)
- North Carolina Department of Commerce (NCDOC)
- North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ)
- North Carolina Department of Revenue (NCDOR)
- North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT)
- North Carolina Electric Cooperatives
- NC Environmental Management Commission
- North Carolina General Assembly (NCGA)
- North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC)