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 were not designed to handle.
Securing land is only the beginning. The harder questions are whether power can actually be delivered on the required timeline, whether utility and permitting processes can keep pace with project schedules, 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 adds another layer of complexity. Data center projects now cut across energy, transmission, environmental, procurement, cybersecurity, and critical-infrastructure frameworks, with federal agencies shaping issues from power availability and interconnection to permitting, federal workload requirements, and mission-critical infrastructure strategy — all on top of local zoning, utility coordination, infrastructure constraints, incentive scrutiny, environmental review, and community opposition.
Vertex helps data center developers, operators, investors, technology vendors, and federal contractors align strategy across those fragmented processes, anticipate risks before they harden, and move projects through the decision-making environments where outcomes are won or lost.
North Carolina Spotlight
- Duke Energy has reported 7.6 gigawatts in executed data center agreements, underscoring the scale of load growth now confronting utilities, regulators, local governments, and communities across the Carolinas.
- An estimated $64 billion in U.S. data center projects have been blocked or delayed amid local opposition and permitting challenges — a dynamic now playing out sharply in North Carolina, where multiple communities have adopted or pursued moratoria or other restrictions, including Charlotte’s 150-day moratorium on new data center development.
- North Carolina Senate Bill 730, the Ratepayer Protection Act, has passed the House and remains pending final Senate action on House changes. If enacted, the bill would impose new requirements related to infrastructure cost responsibility, ownership, water use, local impact assessments, and incentives — reflecting a broader shift in how data center projects are judged: not only by economic development potential, but by grid impact, community acceptance, ratepayer exposure, ownership structure, and long-term public policy risk.
Specialty Areas
- Data center policy across federal, state, and local government — including siting restrictions, moratorium strategy, incentive reform, large-load cost allocation, ratepayer protection, water use disclosure, permitting requirements, and demand response policy.
- Site development, entitlements, and community risk — including brownfield redevelopment, zoning and land use, annexation, agricultural conversion, easements, noise and light ordinances, stakeholder engagement, moratorium navigation, and political risk management.
- Government workloads, secure compute, and AI infrastructure strategy— including agency modernization priorities, secure hosting and colocation requirements, GSA acquisition pathways, contractor positioning, data residency, government workload compliance, procurement timing, and agency engagement around private-sector data center, AI compute, high-performance computing, and mission-critical capacity.
- Power availability, transmission, and utility strategy— including large-load tariff navigation, grid interconnection, co-location policy, utility coordination, advanced nuclear and small modular reactor policy, utility service considerations, and North Carolina Utilities Commission Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity proceedings.
- Permitting, agency engagement, and environmental requirements — including NEPA and SEPA review, Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act permitting, NCDEQ Title V operating permits, NPDES compliance, RCRA hazardous waste management, greenhouse gas 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, legislative monitoring, and incentive structures facing increased public and political scrutiny.
- Foreign ownership, investment, and CFIUS strategy — including critical infrastructure classification, operator and investor screening, military-adjacent facility considerations, and sensitive government or defense workload assessments.
- Government and regulatory risk affecting insurability and financing — including public policy developments, regulatory changes, compliance requirements, project approval risk, lender conditions, and long-term viability considerations.
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 (USACE)
- U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC)
- U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)
- U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- U.S. Senate & House Energy, Commerce, and Appropriations Committees
North Carolina
- Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC)
- Local Governments, Planning Boards, Municipal Utility Authorities, and Economic Development Authorities
- 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 Environmental Management Commission
- North Carolina General Assembly (NCGA)
- North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC)