A proposal for a $19.2 billion AI data center in Edgecombe County, North Carolina, has been withdrawn as local officials mull a 24-month moratorium on new data center developments.

Developer Energy Storage Solutions withdrew the project earlier this month, according to comments made by Edgecombe County manager Eric Evans at a county board of commissioners meeting on July 6.

The project was planned for the Kingsboro development area near Tarboro and would have been a multi-phase development. Tarboro is a town located some 70 miles east of Raleigh, the state capital.

Reports on the total planned size and power capacity of the site vary, with some suggesting the final site could be a campus encompassing 300 acres, with a total capacity of 900MW.

Late last year, the county board of commissioners denied a special-use permit application for the development. At the time, the proposal called for the construction of an eight-phase 300MW data center campus on a 52-acre land parcel.

Energy Storage Solutions appealed this decision and said it would go ahead with the project. The case is still ongoing.

During the July 6 meeting, commissioners also discussed a 24-month moratorium on data center developments in the county, with a public hearing scheduled for August.

North Carolina has become a hotspot for data center activity, with some local residents opposing new developments across the state.

At a state level, legislators in the state house have passed the Ratepayer Protection Act, which is awaiting Senate approval.

The legislation includes provisions requiring data center developers to cover the upfront costs for grid expansion, transmission upgrades, and new power generation for their facilities. It also includes a coal plant moratorium, preventing public utilities from retiring coal-fired power plants until regulators approve new large-scale nuclear facilities.