Protesters rallied against the plan for a proposed gas plant at a Duke Energy open house event in Mocksville.
They held signs with phrases like “We pay the bill, Duke takes the profit” and “You can’t drink data.”
Among them was Yadkin Riverkeeper Nicole Eastman. She says she’s concerned about the impact on the river’s ecosystem, both from the proposed gas plant and the proliferation of data centers.
“These additional power plants are really just to meet the need of data centers, so it's not something that the community members of Davie and Davidson County will be utilizing.”
The concern came up inside at the open house as well, where representatives outlined the proposal and took questions from residents. Bill Norton, with Duke Energy, says the project is about customer demand.
“People want to live here. People want to work here. And yes, data centers are coming here as well. But really, this is about companies that have already committed to North Carolina and South Carolina as well, not recruiting additional industries.
The facility is still in the early stages of development — several regulatory hurdles remain before construction could begin.