Charlotte Region.
The Carolinas' foothills hold some of the oldest hyperscale campuses in America — Apple's Maiden site opened in 2010, Google's Lenoir in 2008, Meta's Forest City in 2012 — and all three are expanding again. Duke Energy expects North Carolina data center demand to double toward 6 GW within a decade, and Amazon's $10B Richmond County campus broke ground in late 2025.
The market right now
This market's work is expansion inside live campuses: fifteen-year-old facilities adding buildings, densifying halls, and re-gearing electrical rooms while production loads keep running. North Carolina enforces through its own state plan (NC OSH) with a long-running construction emphasis program, and licenses contractors — not journeymen — through its electrical examiners board. Regional contractors name medium-voltage-capable electricians as their single scarcest hire.
- North Carolina has 40+ operating data centers, with power demand projected to grow from ~3 GW to ~6 GW within a decade (ABC Carolinas, 2026)
- Google has invested $1.2B+ in Lenoir since 2007, added a $600M expansion in 2024, and announced another $1B in 2026 (Local to Coastal; ABC Carolinas, 2026)
- Apple's Maiden campus is adding a $175M, 237,600 sq ft building as part of its US expansion plan (ABC Carolinas, 2026)
- Microsoft is building four data centers in Catawba County (Maiden and Conover) at ~$1B (Hickory Record, 2022; DCD)
- T5's Kings Mountain site is NC's largest operating data center, using roughly as much power as every home in Durham County (Local to Coastal, 2026)
- Construction workforce demand dwarfs operations staffing by 10:1 or more, with journeyman/master electricians the top shortage (ABC Carolinas, 2026)
Every campus on the map
Solid copper markers are operating campuses; white markers are under construction; dashed outlines are announced or planned. Locations are approximate campus-level centroids compiled from public sources — county records, operator announcements, and market reports — as of August 2026. Dense clusters are grouped. Corrections are welcome through the contact page.
Operating campuses mapped
- Apple Maiden — Apple · Maiden, Catawba Co. One of the earliest US hyperscale campuses (opened 2010), with on-site solar generation
- Google Lenoir — Google · Lenoir, Caldwell Co. Operating since 2007-08; $1.2B+ cumulative investment (ABC Carolinas, 2026)
- Meta Forest City — Meta · Forest City, Rutherford Co. Multi-building campus opened 2012; the county's dominant economic engine (BD+C)
- T5 Kings Mountain — T5 Data Centers · Kings Mountain, Cleveland Co. Largest operating data center in NC (Local to Coastal, 2026)
- Flexential Charlotte — Flexential · Charlotte (North & South sites). Multiple enterprise colocation facilities in the metro (Flexential)
- Digital Realty Charlotte — Digital Realty · Charlotte. Three existing metro facilities, with a fourth announced (ABC Carolinas, 2026)
Under construction & planned
- Microsoft Catawba County — Microsoft · Maiden & Conover, Catawba Co · under construction. 4 data centers, ~$1B; groundbreaking confirmed (DCD; Hickory Record, 2022)
- Apple Maiden expansion — Apple · Maiden, Catawba Co · under construction. $175M, 237,600 sq ft addition (ABC Carolinas, 2026)
- Google Lenoir expansion — Google · Lenoir, Caldwell Co · planned. $1B further expansion announced 2026 for AI/cloud demand (Local to Coastal, 2026)
- Digital Realty Charlotte 4 — Digital Realty · Charlotte · planned. $160M on a 155-acre site for a fourth metro facility (ABC Carolinas, 2026)
- Amazon Richmond County — Amazon (AWS) · Richmond Co (east of Charlotte) · under construction. $10B, up to 20 buildings on ~1,200 acres; broke ground late 2025 (Local to Coastal, 2026)
Power
Service territory: Duke Energy Carolinas.
- Duke Energy forecasts NC data center demand roughly doubling to ~6 GW within a decade (ABC Carolinas, 2026)
- Amazon's $10B Richmond County campus sits beside Duke's 2.24 GW Smith Energy Complex (Local to Coastal, 2026)
- Apple pioneered on-site solar at Maiden, including a 17.5 MW Claremont solar farm (NC State/Poole, reported)
The regulatory picture
Enforcement. North Carolina is a state-plan state: NC OSH under the NC Dept of Labor, with a long-running construction special emphasis program covering falls and electrical hazards.
Licensing. NC licenses electrical contractors via the State Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors (Limited, Intermediate, Unlimited classes plus SP specialties); no statewide journeyman card — the listed qualified individual model.
Also in play. NC offers sales/use tax exemptions for qualifying data centers; some counties (e.g., Chatham) have passed moratoria over water and power concerns (Local to Coastal, 2026).
What it means for the work
Working beside a hall that has run uninterrupted since 2012 is a different discipline than greenfield work — every tie-in, every bus extension, every transfer test is adjacent to revenue load. That's where energized-work justification and the permit process do their real work.
Expansions inside live 15-year-old campuses (Apple, Google, Meta) mean energized work adjacent to production loads — prime NFPA 70E territory
ABC Carolinas flags journeyman/master electricians with medium-voltage skills as the region's top shortage — new-to-mission-critical crews need arc-flash training
NC OSH state-plan enforcement plus the no-journeyman-card licensing model puts safety qualification burden on employers, not the license system
On-site solar and future BESS at hyperscale campuses add DC and stored-energy hazards to traditional utility-fed work
Market context is half the picture. The other half is the decision walk — the nine questions the 2027 edition asks before anyone opens a door on energized gear. Run it against the task, then check the room pages in the Data Center Application Series.
NFPA 70E classes taught on the 2027 edition, against data center topology, about 55 times a year — live virtual weekly, and private onsite days in Charlotte run against your one-lines for crews of 15 or more.