Developer Energy Storage Solutions has withdrawn its $19.2 billion AI data center proposal in Edgecombe County, North Carolina, as confirmed by county manager Eric Evans at a July 6 board of commissioners meeting. The project, planned for the Kingsboro development area near Tarboro some 70 miles east of Raleigh, was described as a multi-phase campus potentially spanning 300 acres with a total capacity of 900MW. The county board had previously denied a special-use permit for an eight-phase 300MW campus on 52 acres, and an appeal from the developer remains ongoing. Commissioners also discussed a 24-month moratorium on new data center developments, with a public hearing scheduled for August.
The withdrawal of a $19.2 billion project, combined with a potential 24-month county moratorium, signals growing local resistance that can halt even large-scale data center investments at the permitting stage. At the state level, North Carolina's pending Ratepayer Protection Act would require developers to cover upfront grid expansion and transmission upgrade costs, adding another layer of financial and regulatory risk for future projects in the state.
A data center proposal being withdrawn while county officials deliberate a moratorium represents a concrete regulatory and market action with immediate project impact. This is a distinct geographic and jurisdictional event from other moratorium stories already published.