RALEIGH — North Carolina's House Energy Policy and Utilities Committee passed Senate Bill 730, the Ratepayer Protection Act, in late May 2026. The legislation combines data center regulations with measures affecting fossil fuel permitting and energy policy.
Part one of the bill prohibits data center developers from using eminent domain to acquire land and bars local governments from offering them economic incentives. It also shields ratepayers from higher electric bills tied to data center operations and requires site assessments for facilities of 100 megawatts or more. Those assessments must evaluate noise impacts within 500 feet of homes and schools, as well as effects on water, air quality, heat plumes, farms, parks, historic sites, and forests. The bill mandates closed-loop cooling systems for such facilities. Part two of the bill fast-tracks environmental permits for fossil fuel projects, delays the retirement of coal-fired power plants, and could eliminate Duke Energy’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
State Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Democrat from Guilford County, praised part one of the bill, saying, "I couldn’t ask for more in this political climate than what is in part one. It’s great." She added that Republicans "have been genuinely interested in pulling together what they see as being like best practices" on data center regulation. However, Harrison criticized the inclusion of fossil fuel provisions, calling them "a bunch of bad stuff" meant to attract conservative Republican support.
Shelley Robbins, senior decarbonization manager at the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, said, "It’s the terrible combined with the good. They should be two separate bills."
Amy Adams, deputy and programs director for the Southeast Climate & Energy Network and a former North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality official, criticized the bill’s water protections. "No closed-loop system is 100 percent closed. Every loop has an entry point. Every loop has its losses. It has chemicals, it’s not magic, it’s not creating water, it’s not purifying water," she said. Adams also faulted the bill’s use of vague terms like “de minimis” and “maximum extent possible” regarding water use and said, "There is zero requirement that says that the public gets to know that the data center won’t impair the water supply. This should not be a private business decision. It’s a public resource."
Duke Energy issued a statement saying, "Duke Energy is committed to its customers and communities and will continue working with policymakers and regulators to deliver reliable and increasingly clean energy while keeping rates as low as possible."