The Currituck County Board of Commissioners held a work session on July 20, 2026, to receive information on data centers. The county requested the presentation from Timmons Group, a civil engineering and design firm, who provided the information at no cost to the county.
At this time, no data center projects have been proposed in Currituck County. Commissioners requested the work session to learn about the types of data centers, infrastructure needs, and general information on recent developments in North Carolina.
According to Timmons Group, there are no existing or proposed data centers in eastern North Carolina. The majority of the state’s data centers are located near the Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte areas. Coastal locations, such as Currituck County, may not be desirable due to the increased threat of flooding.
Timmons Group reported that, as of February 2026, there were 72 data centers operating in North Carolina and another 41 planned for construction. This pales in comparison with Virginia, which leads the nation with a total of 685 operating and planned data centers.
Data centers range in size from buildings of less than 1,000 square feet to complexes of more than 1 million square feet. The larger the data center, the greater its need for power, water supply, and fiber infrastructure. Potential benefits to counties include job creation and property tax revenue.
Currituck will continue gathering information on potential impacts of data centers and assess how they fit within the Unified Development Ordinance and Land Use Plan. Factors to be considered include the zoning, footprint and acreage of a project, water usage, and available infrastructure for fiber and electricity.
