Land and data-center sites, North Carolina
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Why do we need data centers?

We need data centers because the services most households use each day, from 911 calls to payments, run on servers that must not stop. A purpose-built facility keeps those servers powered, cooled, connected, and secure, and it usually does so more efficiently than scattered server rooms. That case explains the building type. It does not prove that a specific site needs one.

Discuss your land

Quick summary: This guide makes the case for why data centers exist: what fails when one goes down, how many people depend on them, and why shared facilities cost less than server rooms. It is for residents and officials who want the argument for need before they weigh a proposal. The key takeaway: the need for the building type is well documented, but it does not settle whether one belongs on a specific tract.

Why we need data centers

We need data centers because the services most people use each day run on servers, and those servers have to keep running through storms, outages, and repairs. The Census Bureau’s 2024 survey estimates that about 93 of every 100 North Carolina households subscribe to broadband of some type. About 93 of every 100 have a smartphone. Those connections carry calls, payments, health records, and government services to and from servers.

The federal government named the role in 2007. The EPA’s report to Congress called data centers “essential to the functioning of business, communications, academic, and governmental systems.” The full list of services is in What are data centers used for?, and the definition of the building is in What is a data center?

What fails when a data center goes down

When a data center goes down, the services that run in it stop for everyone who depends on them. North Carolina has a recent example. After Hurricane Helene hit Asheville in 2024, the federal climate data center there reported that all of its archived data was inaccessible. Its network provider had limited function, and many key products and services were unavailable. Monthly national climate reports were delayed.

That was one archive. The services with the highest stakes plan for that kind of failure in advance.

  • Payments. The Federal Reserve runs its Fedwire applications from several data centers. It places them far enough apart to limit the effects of most natural disasters, power and telecommunication outages, and regional disruptions.
  • Emergency calls. North Carolina’s 2024 State 911 Plan designs the 911 network for 99.999 percent service availability.
  • State government. The state’s two data centers are more than 200 miles apart. They are designed to run for extended periods during regional power outages.

How critical services plan for failure

Critical services plan for failure with redundancy: spare equipment, backup power, and a second site that can take over. A data center is the building designed to hold that redundancy. The 911 network connects to six geographically redundant core sites for call routing and two in-state data centers for hosted call handling. Every answering point connects to all six core sites.

The state’s own data centers show how the second site works. A 2020 state energy plan describes the Western Data Center as moving away from being mainly a backup and recovery site to carrying a growing server load. North Carolina tax law writes the same standard into its definition. Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 105-164.3, a datacenter’s power and cooling must allow any component to be serviced without stopping the computers.

Data center redundancy: what it means and what it asks of land explains the N, N+1, and 2N terms and what redundancy asks of a site.

The short version: The need is not for more buildings in the abstract. It is for computing that does not stop. Purpose-built facilities, backed up by a second site, are how operators meet that standard.

Why shared data centers usually cost less than server rooms

Shared data centers usually cost less than scattered server rooms because large facilities use power more efficiently and spread fixed costs across many users. The International Energy Agency reports that enterprise data centers, run by one organization for its own use, are typically smaller and less efficient. Cooling takes about 7 percent of the electricity in efficient hyperscale facilities and over 30 percent in less efficient enterprise ones. The enterprise share of world capacity fell from 85 percent in 2005 to about 28 percent.

Governments have followed the same arithmetic.

How fast demand is growing

Demand for data-center computing roughly tripled from 2014 to 2023, measured by electricity. The Department of Energy reports that United States data centers used 58 terawatt-hours in 2014 and 176 terawatt-hours in 2023, about 4.4 percent of national electricity. Worldwide, the International Energy Agency projects use to roughly double from 485 terawatt-hours in 2025 to 950 in 2030. Why are so many data centers being built? covers the forces behind that growth.

Where the case for need has limits

The case for need has limits, and the public record names them. Outsourcing is not always cheaper. The federal budget office stated in its 2019 data-center policy that vendor services such as cloud are “not always more cost-effective” than agency-hosted services. In a 2026 GAO review, 17 of 24 federal agencies said cloud cost control required changes in how they manage IT.

The larger limit is local. Broad need for data centers does not show that a specific campus will serve local residents or belongs on a specific tract. Power terms, water, noise, generators, and tax agreements are project questions. Are data centers bad? The objections, checked against the record checks each one. When was the first data center built? A short history shows how long this need has existed.

Take action: If you are weighing a proposal or an offer near your land, start from what the record shows about that tract. Start with Tell us what you are looking for.

Key recap

  • About 93 of every 100 North Carolina households subscribe to broadband and own a smartphone, and those connections reach services that run on servers.
  • When a data center fails, its services stop. Hurricane Helene cut public access to the federal climate archive in Asheville in 2024.
  • Payments, 911, and state systems use redundant, geographically separate data centers to keep running.
  • Shared facilities use power more efficiently than scattered server rooms. Federal agencies cut spending and projected costs by 6.6 billion dollars through consolidation.
  • The need for the building type does not prove the need for a specific campus on a specific tract.

Questions

Why are data centers important?

Data centers are important because they keep the servers behind everyday services running without interruption. Emergency calls, payments, health records, and government applications all depend on them, and those services plan for a data-center failure with backup sites.

What happens if a data center goes down?

The services that run in it stop unless a second site takes over. After Hurricane Helene in 2024, the federal climate archive in Asheville reported that all of its archived data was inaccessible for a time.

Could companies keep their servers in their own offices instead?

They can, and some do. Enterprise facilities still hold about 28 percent of world capacity. They are typically smaller and less efficient, and outsourced hosting is not always cheaper, so each organization compares the costs.

References

Primary sources cited on this page, in APA style.

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