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Data Center Watch Report · ZIP 27801

Rocky Mount

Edgecombe

ApprovedZIP 70.4% Blackpop 19,489

Approved zoning path / Proposed — Edgecombe County amended its ordinance (Nov 2025) to allow data centers; Rocky Mount city annexed land and has a rezoning pend

Researched: 2026-08-02 · Lead source: Brockovich AI Data Center community map (3 resident reports, 2026-05-23→2026-06-16) · ZIP demographics: 70.4% Black, pop 19,489 (Census ACS 2023) · County: Edgecombe (~57% Black; city spans Nash + Edgecombe) Status: Approved zoning path / Proposed — Edgecombe County amended its ordinance (Nov 2025) to allow data centers; Rocky Mount city annexed land and has a rezoning pending. No facility operating yet as of 2026-08-02.

This report is research, not legal, financial, real-estate, or investment advice.

0. Snapshot

Two data-center efforts sit on top of Rocky Mount, and ZIP 27801 — the majority-Black east/Edgecombe side of the city — is between them. (1) Kingsboro Business Park in Edgecombe County, where Rocky Mount–based Energy Storage Solutions wants to build a 900 MW, ~$19.2 billion, natural-gas-powered campus on ~300 acres between Rocky Mount and Tarboro; the county unanimously amended its zoning ordinance in November 2025 to allow it. (2) A city project: Rocky Mount annexed 171 acres on Arrow and Dozier roads and has a pending rezoning from commercial to heavy industrial whose text (noise limits, no diesel generators, "non-water-intensive cooling") reads like a data center. Rocky Mount runs its own municipal electric system — unusual, and central to who pays. Opposition is organized and explicitly environmental-justice framed: Edgecombe Neighbors for Data Center Accountability with the NC Environmental Justice Network.

1. The Facility & Where It Sits

Kingsboro Business Park (Edgecombe County) — Energy Storage Solutions

  • Developer: Dan Shaffer, president, Energy Storage Solutions (Robersonville / Rocky Mount, NC).
  • Scale: 900 MW, ~$19.2 billion, ~300 acres, ~a dozen 40,000-sq-ft buildings; on-site natural-gas generation with capacity to sell surplus power back to utilities (chosen because the county has limited grid capacity).
  • Location: Kingsboro development between Rocky Mount and Tarboro, near the U.S. 64 interchange, west of the former QVC plant, alongside the CSX rail line. Initial county-owned parcels ~22 and ~100 acres, offered at ~$2 million.
  • Timeline: groundbreaking targeted Q1 2026; ~24 phases over 3–5 years.

Rocky Mount city — Arrow & Dozier roads

  • The City Council annexed 171 acres on Arrow and Dozier roads and took up a rezoning from commercial to heavy industrial (vote postponed at the June 8, 2026 meeting). The proposed conditions — noise caps, a ban on diesel generators, and "non-water-intensive cooling methods" — strongly indicate a data center, though the end user was not named in coverage (Sound Rivers).

Where it sits: ZIP 27801 is the historic east-side, majority-Black core of Rocky Mount on the Edgecombe County side — the same county carrying the Kingsboro proposal. Both sites are on the Black/Edgecombe side of the metro rather than the whiter Nash-County suburbs.

2. Public Hearings & Notices

  • Sept 8, 2025 — Town of Tarboro rejected a similar data-center permit request, 7–1 (residents cited noise, water use, air quality).
  • Nov 11, 2025 — Edgecombe County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to amend the zoning ordinance to permit data centers in industrial districts (County Manager Eric Evans presenting). A prior 100 MW / $6.4M proposal had been rejected; the developer signaled an appeal.
  • Nov 25, 2025 — community meeting (~50 in person, 600+ online).
  • Dec 1, 2025 — commissioners' meeting: 180+ residents signed a petition against selling the public land; chamber filled with red-shirted opponents.
  • June 8, 2026 — Rocky Mount City Council annexed 171 acres (Arrow/Dozier) but postponed the commercial-to-heavy-industrial rezoning vote.

Verify current agendas via the Rocky Mount City Clerk and the Edgecombe County Clerk to the Board (contacts in §8).

3. Power

Rocky Mount owns and operates a municipal electric system (city "Energy Resources" dept.; 700+ miles of distribution line; ~29,000–31,000 customers across Nash and Edgecombe; a member of ElectriCities of NC). That makes the city — not Duke — the retail provider inside its service area, so a large city-sited load directly implicates municipal ratepayers. The Kingsboro project sidesteps grid limits with on-site natural-gas turbines and would sell surplus power back; that is a generation/air-permit question, not just a wires question. NCEJN raised diesel-emergency-generator and gas-combustion air-quality concerns. Statewide, Duke Energy's Carolinas large-load forecast (8 GW by 2035) and the NC Utilities Commission's pending large-load/data-center tariff frame who ultimately pays for grid upgrades.

4. Water & Drought

Opponents (Dr. Rania Masri, NCEJN) note Energy Storage Solutions claims ~500,000 gallons/day while data centers "typically require 3 to 5 million gallons per day" — during drought. The Rocky Mount city rezoning text specifically requires "non-water-intensive cooling," suggesting water is a live constraint. Drought: Edgecombe County ranged D1 (Moderate) to D3 (Extreme) through July 2026 (U.S. Drought Monitor / NC DMAC). The Tar River basin runs through the area (Sound Rivers is the local riverkeeper covering it).

5. Population & Who Lives Here

ZIP 27801 is 70.4% Black, population 19,489 — the majority-Black east side of Rocky Mount, on the Edgecombe County side. Edgecombe County itself is majority-Black and, per NCEJN, experiences "food apartheid"; opponents argue the ~155 acres of farmland at Kingsboro should draw agricultural investment, not an industrial mega-load. This is a textbook environmental-justice siting: a gas-fired hyperscale campus proposed in one of the state's poorest, Blackest counties.

6. Money — Abatements, Incentives, Jobs

  • Energy Storage Solutions claims ~$75 million/year in tax revenue to Edgecombe County and 500–1,000+ jobs — but NCEJN says the company's own documents show only ~69 permanent positions, and that tax exemptions could leave the county with minimal net revenue.
  • County-owned Kingsboro parcels offered at ~$2 million; initial investment cited around $2 billion, scaling toward the $19.2B full build.
  • No finalized PILOT/abatement figures published as of 2026-08-02 beyond the developer's claims. Not found as of 2026-08-02.

7. Community Reaction & News Coverage

Local/regional outlets: Rocky Mount Telegram, Sound Rivers, WUNC/BPR, Data Center Knowledge. Opposition: Edgecombe Neighbors for Data Center Accountability (Facebook group), backed by the NC Environmental Justice Network (co-director Dr. Rania Masri). Tactics: packed hearings, a 180+ signature petition against selling public land, red-shirt demonstrations, and detailed rebuttals on water, air, and jobs. Tarboro's earlier 7–1 rejection shows nearby towns split from the county.

8. Find Out For Yourself

City of Rocky Mount — rockymountnc.gov.

  • City Clerk: (252) 972-1319 — agendas, minutes, meeting schedule for Council and boards. Ask which side of the annexed Arrow/Dozier tract falls in Edgecombe vs. Nash and when the heavy-industrial rezoning returns.
  • City Energy Resources (municipal electric) — ask about large-load service and rate impact.

Edgecombe County Board of Commissioners — 201 St. Andrews Street (Administration Building, 2nd floor), Tarboro, NC. Meets 1st Monday, 6:00 p.m. Clerk to the Board: (252) 641-7834. Ask for the Kingsboro rezoning file and any land-sale agenda item.

Town of Tarboro — record of the Sept 8, 2025 permit denial.

NC Utilities Commission — ncuc.gov (large-load/data-center tariff docket and Public Staff consumer advocate).

Questions worth asking:

  1. How many permanent jobs are guaranteed in writing — 69 or 500?
  2. What is the enforceable water withdrawal limit and source, given Extreme Drought?
  3. Will on-site gas turbines need an air permit, and what are the modeled emissions near 27801 neighborhoods?
  4. If Rocky Mount's municipal utility serves a city-sited center, do local ratepayers subsidize grid upgrades?
  5. What tax exemptions/incentives apply, and what is the net revenue to Edgecombe County after them?
  6. Will the public Kingsboro land be sold — and at a public hearing?

9. If You're Thinking About Moving Here

The zoning path is opening (county ordinance amended; city annexation done) but no facility is built and key votes remain. If you live or would live in 27801, weigh: proximity to a possible gas-fired, self-generating campus and its air/noise footprint; whether the city's own electric rates move if a large load lands inside the municipal system; and water reliability during a multi-year drought. There is strong, organized local opposition and an active environmental-justice case that this load is being aimed at a majority-Black, lower-income county. All unresolved as of 2026-08-02.

10. Sources

Lead source: resident reports on the Brockovich AI Data Center community map, then independently verified against public records. Research, not legal, financial, real-estate, or investment advice. Some resident-reported pins remain uncorroborated and are labeled as such above.