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Greensboro City Council members concerned about data center influx in NC

Greensboro City Council Member Crystal Black shared concerns about the potential for data centers coming to District 1.
Courtesy city of Greensboro
Greensboro City Council Member Crystal Black shared concerns about the potential for data centers coming to District 1.

Several Greensboro City Council members voiced concerns about the recent surge in data center proposals across the state at a meeting Monday night.

The discussion was sparked by a public speaker who urged the city to pass a moratorium on data center construction — something several other municipalities have done, including Boone in March.

While the council didn’t vote on a moratorium, many members said they were worried about the potential negative impacts these centers could have on the community. Crystal Black said she was concerned about Southeast Greensboro, in particular.

”We hold the highways. We hold pollution, we hold landfills," Black said. "We cannot hold every harm that comes to this city, and we’re gonna stop it with data centers.”

Councilmember Tammi Thurm asked the city manager to let them know of any proposals coming down the pike before they appear on an agenda.

“We want to do our homework. We want to make sure that we create policies in line with our community," Thurm said.

Amy Diaz began covering education in North Carolina’s Piedmont region and High Country for WFDD in partnership with Report For America in 2022. Before entering the world of public radio, she worked as a local government reporter in Flint, Mich. where she was named the 2021 Rookie Writer of the Year by the Michigan Press Association. Diaz is originally from Florida, where she interned at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and freelanced for the Tampa Bay Times. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of South Florida, but truly got her start in the field in elementary school writing scripts for the morning news. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.