The developer proposing to have the town of Apex allow building a massive AI hyperscale data center withdrew their application! Against all odds, big tech money, and encouragement from public officials, how did this happen? Public opposition is cited in many of the news reports. In this blog, I will share some of the varying news accounts and my plans to document this success.
First, I want to share my plans going forward. I learned last week at an activist’s networking meeting, on the same day of the developer’s withdrawal announcement, that there are currently 19 proposed data centers to be built in North Carolina. These are affecting local communities as well as everyone for higher utility costs, increasing sources of pollution, and accelerating the brave new world of AI. Therefore, I plan to share my story of sweat equity in a book for how we fought and won this first battle. It took many people involved to create public opposition and processing the application by officials so I will offer my journey and steps of advice or lessons learned to share with our community and other communities around the country.
Please send me an email (billydam@gmail.com) if you have any advice, contacts, or suggestions on preparing a book for publication or want to pre-order/offer donations as it will not be listed on Amazon if I can help it!
Secondly, the fight will continue for how to preserve the farmland and be ready for more developer’s applications. Lots of diverse voices are needed to speak out as the town prepares for a one-year moratorium and possible changes to the unified development ordinance (UDO). Is one year enough time or do people want to push for 5 - 10 years or perhaps a total ban? Does the UDO need to change at all?
Third, I’ll focus on how we won the first fight and let others continue to advocate for next steps. Tonight, there will be a public town hall council meeting at 6 pm in Apex. I’ve not disclosed my health issues so I’m not sure if I have the energy to attend but I will be there is spirit and rooting for the red shirts!
Here are some of the news reports:
WRAL Residents near proposed Apex data center relieved project is scrapped, says more work needed
Natelli Investments has withdrawn its applications to build a data center near the Shearon Harris Nuclear Plant, citing the town of Apex’s ongoing deliberations over necessary zoning changes.
The Herald Sun Data center developer withdraws Apex project after community opposition
WUNC Proposed data center in Wake County is withdrawing its application
Peace and Love,
Bill
Update March 16, 2026
As I mentioned above, I’m preparing and posting here a first draft proposed book title and introduction to send out for review. Please let me know if you have any suggestions for improvement or contacts with publishers by sending me an email (billydam@gmail.com).
Hyperscale Data Center Opposition: A rural North Carolina Community Journal
Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Air Quality, Land-Use Planning, Energy, Politics, Water
Abstract: How can we stop or slow big tech building AI infrastructure with unknown risks to our health and economy?
Introduction
Across America and in many places around the world, big tech trillion-dollar corporations are rapidly transforming farmlands and warehouses into heavy industrial data centers – tall buildings containing computer servers connected by fiber optic cables. In 2026, an estimated $400 billion will be spent on building artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure! We’re hearing how AI and robotics are changing so many aspects of our lives. The buildup is comparable to the World War 2 Manhattan Project, made famous in the Oppenheimer movie. Will this revolutionary boom lead to new discoveries and/or bust in economic and environmental fallout? Why are some communities eagerly promoting the benefits of AI data centers while others painfully experience the detriments? Can we trust public officials will protect us and our environment?
This is a story of one rural North Carolina community located near the Research Triangle who fought and won their first battle against a proposed $1.3 Billion hyperscale data center. There are at least 18 more proposed for the state and over 3000 in the United States. This book can serve as a guide to civic activism, how to impact the political process while uniting people to rise above partisanship, appreciating and protecting natural resources, and increasing awareness of threats posed by AI big tech companies.
Currently, there about 650 hyperscale data centers in USA representing about half the global total and people are already experiencing significant health impacts from air pollution, noise, lights, water consumption, and more. We are all paying the price through higher utility bills, increasing exposure to pollution on an interconnected grid of power plants, and challenges posed by AI replacing human intelligence. Wrongful-death lawsuits are being filed against big tech companies due to chat bots assisting in teen suicide. How can we trust machines to become integrated into every facet of our lives yet they will never love us?
The author is one of many neighbors who immediately organized together to stop a small family developer representing an unknown big tech company proposing to build a “digital campus.” Based on lessons learned over a seven-month period of first learning about the data center application until its withdrawal, what would I do if a new application gets proposed? Wherever you live, I hope this book will inspire you to do the same.
I will provide a stepwise process from day one of what to do. While I got caught by surprise, hopefully you do not have to wait for big tech to invade your homeland. You can proactively take many steps now to get informed and involved such as learning about local, state, federal governments and non-governmental organizations including obtaining job titles and contact names. Formulate questions then send an email to the head of your local planning department, contact your mayor to ask their position on promoting development, get to know local reporters and learn their angle. Many reporters represent business interests while others focus on civil rights, climate action or politics. Have you discovered how much your utility bills will be increasing? How are your local schools and teachers adopting to computers in school, preventing gaming, and AI deepfakes?
It will take a community of neighbors to organize and fight peacefully with information so prepare for taking multiple actions including on social media platforms. But wait, isn’t that hypocritical to use the internet and be against data centers? Most people I know are not against the technological revolution but are very concerned about where AI is taking us. When you learn about all the impacts from hyperscale data centers you will see this is an existential fight.
Using my knowledge over a 40-year career as an environmental scientist, I volunteered to take a lead role to defend my home and neighborhood against the big tech machine. What I didn’t expect to learn was how federal environmental regulations and laws are getting rolled back and circumvented, how states are providing tax incentives to big tech companies, while local politicians dangle jobs and property tax benefits yet secretly receiving super PAC campaign funds from these big tech corporations. This is also a story for how we might lose our democracy as it’s being threatened by big tech oligarchs who are controlling how we communicate, buying up media outlets, taking over power utilities, selling mass surveillance, and realigning our government to benefit themselves.
My hope is this book will inspire others to make a difference in their community, appreciate and protect nature, recall fundamental values like Love Thy Neighbor and feel grateful for God’s grace.
Beginning in 2015, I’ve been posting blogs on a website that I created called Conserve-Prosper.com. Initially, I focused on water conservation living in a western Colorado desert. Once I retired from the federal government, I began blogging about my employment experiences with the uranium fuel cycle from mining, power and nuclear waste disposal. My blogging took me on many adventures by writing book reviews and interviewing sustainability innovators. This book is a compilation of several blogs posted in a journal format as well as listing important steps in the process of becoming an activist sharing information on AI hyperscale data centers.
Please send me an email (billydam@gmail.com) if you have any advice, contacts, or suggestions on preparing this book for publication or want to pre-order/offer donations as it will not be listed on Amazon if I can help it!
Update April 23, 2026
On Friday April 10, I submitted public comments supporting the moratorium and the PWCC group also used a generic version to place on Facebook for other people to use as a template:
Dear Apex Town Council Member:
Please vote in favor of the 12-month moratorium on data centers, cryptocurrency mining and other related high-tech uses. This time will allow for improved decision making.
I plan to be in the audience Tuesday night to hear public discussions and how you conduct your vote. My home is only two miles away from the Goodwin farm being sold for development.
I'm one of the founding members of Protect Wake County Coalition and we have been very active in learning about the energy, environmental, health, and financial impacts such as from increasing utility bills from hyperscale data centers. These buildings cannot be considered light industrial and are heavy industrial facilities.
I appreciate the Mayor and Council Members who attended our PWCC meetings before and after the election to share information and perspectives. While we've given many testimonies at town hall meetings and spent many hours in meetings including with the Planning Department/Board and EAB, we have not had the opportunity for a town hall Q&A discussion like was common during the days of John McCain and Barack Obama's campaigns.
Several thousand local residents signed a petition opposing hyperscale data centers. We will continue to stay actively engaged on protecting our Apex-New Hill neighborhoods and how changes are considered for the UDO. Public opposition got cited in the news as the primary reason the developer withdrew their application.
On November 13, 2025, the Natelli developer group spoke at the New Hill Community Center and here are some of the issues that still need to be considered in the UDO amendments.
Our community packed a meeting room with 100 people who were allowed inside to meet with the data center developers as reported by Christian Hendricks (email) with the Holly Springs Update. The article by Christian Hendricks stated unanswered questions include:
Whether Apex will adopt A-weighted, C-weighted, or dual noise limits, and at what levels.
Actual noise modeling results for homes, schools, and wildlife areas (and impacts to wildlife/pets).
Details of comparable data centers developed by the team.
A clear explanation of water-treatment polishing and associated chemicals.
Water-use projections tied to climate conditions.
Wildlife-impact assessments.
Any mechanism to insulate residents from potential grid-related rate impacts.
What began as a noise meeting made one thing clear: noise is only the beginning of the debate. The developers said they would return with more information and in a larger room. The residents made it equally clear they will return, too.”
Thank you for your consideration!
On April 14, the Apex Town Council, after over two hours of discussing other topics as the last item on agenda, voted unanimously to approve the 12-month data center moratorium. Here’s the YouTube video beginning at 2 hours 18 minutes. The text of the moratorium is shown here beginning on page 452.