Data centers seem to be the topic of the moment, and we are now faced with two of them in our own community. While many will scream “No Data Centers” at the top of their lungs, we all must understand that not all data centers are created equal. We are currently looking at two vastly different projects.
The first is a county project on Long Ferry Road, which was approved for a hyperscale AI data center by the county commissioners in September 2025. The county did the bare minimum legally required to notify the public; they held the required planning board meetings but did not widely publicize them or invite citizens to a presentation. They did not engage us in any way that shows meaningful transparency, and they now find themselves in a well-deserved firestorm.
Documents obtained via the Freedom of Information Act show a projected site plan that anticipates the development of multiple speculative industrial and data center buildings totaling up to 3,300,000 square feet on approximately 380 acres. These plans are not yet available because they will be specifically tailored to the end user — typically giants like Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Meta, Anthropic or OpenAI. It is important to note that OpenAI recently agreed to contract with the Department of Defense to use AI for monitoring and surveillance of U.S. citizens and to create weapons that would target individuals without human oversight. Anthropic reportedly refused this request, losing its status as a government provider in the process.
This project threatens to devour our water and energy while potentially adding serious pollution to our farmland and watershed. Current hyperscale AI data centers use over 100 megawatts (MW) of power, and the largest use between 650 and 1,000 MW. To understand that scale, 1,000 MW powers 800,000 homes — roughly the size of San Francisco. Imagine that demand on our power grid as summer heat approaches 100 degrees. Beyond just the demand, there is the hidden cost of infrastructure. When a utility builds massive new substations or transmission lines for a data center, those costs are often passed on to all utility ratepayers — meaning you and I could see our monthly bills rise to subsidize Duke Energy, who made $5 billion in profit last year.
Additionally, these facilities typically use 1 to 5 million gallons of water per day. Data centers are often sold as job engines, but the reality is they are capital-intensive, not labor-intensive. While construction brings an initial burst of workers, these massive buildings often employ only 30 to 50 permanent staff once operational. We have to ask if 50 jobs are worth the environmental and infrastructure strain.
While Chairman Greg Edds has given a laundry list of protections the county will supposedly “require,” the commissioners gave away their legal leverage the moment they approved the zoning. In the county’s case, this was essentially a “by-right” approval. Once land-use rights are granted this way, the public loses its seat at the table. The developer can build without returning for permission, leaving us with no say over things like the 24/7 industrial noise from massive cooling fans and backup generators whose sound can travel for miles. The commissioners can make demands, but they are now reliant on the goodwill of the end user and bad PR. The one-year moratorium voted on last week will not apply to this project or the city’s data center.
Let’s talk about that city project. The city is proposing a non-AI data center on Henderson Grove Church Road. As proposed in a developer meeting on April 14 by Trammell Crow and Flexential, this project is large but very different from the county project. Flexential provides cloud, backup and cybersecurity support — not AI processing. The scale is 400,000 square feet; they state it will require 36 MW of power once it is at full build and that the center is almost waterless, using water only for sinks and landscaping.
While the county pushed through its project without our input, the city is employing a more transparent approach. Its next step is the zoning process, starting with a text amendment to the Land Development Ordinance (LDO) to define what a data center is and how they are approved. This is essential since there is no legal language yet because they are new. The Planning Board meeting this Tuesday, April 28, at 4 p.m. at City Hall (217 South Main St.) will be where they present this language. That language will then be considered at the City Council meeting on May 19 at 6 p.m.
Crucially, the city has stated it will then use Conditional District Zoning for all data centers. Unlike the “by-right” trap at the county level, Conditional Zoning legally mandates public hearings for every single facility proposed. It allows the city and the community to tailor specific conditions, and the city will legally not be able to build a data center without public input in the future. After the LDO zoning update is approved—which it has to be regardless of this particular data center project — there will still be months of negotiation and public input before the city’s data center is either approved or denied.
Moving forward, I am committed to fighting the county and any AI data center end-user to let them know they are not welcome in our community. As for the city, there are still many questions to be answered, including whether we want a data center at all. The lack of an “open forum” for the public to discuss this project as a group is problematic for me; however, I support the approach they are taking to execute the process the right way. I am undecided about the city’s project, but I am glad for the actual engagement and will continue to push for truthful answers and make sure that we hold our elected officials accountable at every step.
Samantha Haspel lives in Salisbury.
