: Charlotte City Council approves PowerHouse DC construction

The Charlotte City Council has accepted PowerHouse's land rezoning request to develop its first data center campus outside Virginia. The council voted 7-2 in favor of the rezoning request for nearly 124 acres of land on September 18, 2023.

The city staff initially hesitated as they were concerned about the environmental impacts of this construction and the noise it would cause. In addition, there were concerns about how it would affect the residents as the site is close to a Duke Energy substation. 

One representative said to the council, "Our main concern was noise impacts to the neighboring community to the south, which they've added some mitigation on and demonstrated where the buildings would be, which wasn't clear on the plans going into the hearing. We feel that we've gotten everything addressed on our side." 

PwerHouse convinced the majority of the council by addressing the concerns and proposing solutions like keeping buildings far from residential areas and designing them to be inward-facing. The firm will also provide an avenue for the neighborhood to contact the campus if noise becomes a problem. However, two council members remained unconvinced and opposed the request.