Plans for a 250MW data center have caused uproar among residents of Wake County, North Carolina.

The scheme, known as the New Hill Digital Campus, is being proposed for an 89-acre site on Shearon Harris Road, near the town of Apex and adjacent to the Harris Nuclear Plant operated by Duke Energy.

Residents fear that, if approved, it could see their energy bills spike, and a petition against the plan has already attracted more than 2,000 signatures.

New data center for North Carolina?

Natelli Investments LLC is the company behind the project, which would see six data center buildings constructed on the plot, along with accompanying infrastructure to manage power and water.

The developer intends to draw power from Duke Energy’s grid and has submitted paperwork seeking approval to annex and rezone the land, which is currently used for farming, for data center use.

Little information about Natelli Investments LLC is available online. It is likely linked to Natelli Communities, a developer of residential and commercial property that operates in the southeast US.

In a statement to local news outlet CBS17, the firm’s executive vice president, Michael Natelli, said: “The New Hill Digital Campus is an ideal use for this property and the local community. Data storage facilities are modest users of public facilities. Not only do they generate far less traffic than residential communities, but they create high-wage technology jobs and strengthen the technology eco-system in their region.”

An end user for the site has not been specified, though given its high predicted capacity, it is likely the developer is targeting a hyperscale client.

Opposition to New Hill Digital Campus grows

The plans have already attracted significant opposition, with a Facebook group launched to coordinate opposition, and a petition against the plan having garnered more than 2,000 signatures at the time of writing.

Apex resident Doug Stewart told CBS 13 he was worried about the impact of the data center on power infrastructure, and the knock-on effect this could have for electricity bills.

“Apex has about 7,500 residents, and the data center alone is going to pull the equivalent of about 10,000 homes. It’s essentially doubling what we currently have,” Stewart said.

Other residents expressed their concerns at a meeting held in Jordan Pointe at the end of last month.

“When they make infrastructure improvements, who does that cost go to? It doesn’t go to the developer,” said Lorraine McAvoy, a New Hill resident who addressed the meeting. “It goes to the people, the consumers of the utility.”

Protestors plan to try and block the rezoning proposal, either at Apex Town Council level or by appealing to lawmakers in the Wake County legislature.

North Carolina has an active data center market, mainly focused on the Charlotte area. In June, Amazon announced it was investing $10 billion in digital infrastructure in the state.