N.C. House Republicans and a few Democrats advanced a bill Wednesday that would set some guardrails on data center development, while putting restrictions on Duke Energy’s coal plant retirement. Mecklenburg County’s newly unaffiliated representatives Nasif Majeed and Carla Cunningham also voted in favor of the bill.

Recent rain has helped drought conditions in the Charlotte area, but the state overall is far from recovered.

Charlotte Water restrictions help reduce usage as the drought continues, even after recent rainfall.

At a committee meeting Monday afternoon, Deputy City Manager Alyson Craig clarified that a proposed 150-day moratorium would stop new data center applications from being submitted, but would not pause every project already lined up.

State regulators are hosting the final public hearing on Duke Energy Carolinas’ proposed rate hikes Wednesday evening in Durham. The utility says it needs higher returns to attract future investment and reduce financial risk. Not everyone agrees.