This coverage is made possible through a partnership between BPR and Grist, a nonprofit environmental media organization.
The town of Canton could be the latest North Carolina municipality to ban cryptocurrency mining and data centers. Last month, the town board passed a resolution to hold a public hearing on the matter on Feb. 11, after multiple companies contacted community leaders to see if they could use the former paper mill site which closed in 2023.
The move comes as a flurry of new data centers have stressed rural communities throughout the country. Data Centers have caused well-water contamination in Mansfield, GA, stressed water resources in Utah and Alaska, increased energy bills in Baltimore, and spurred complaints of air pollution from community organizations in Memphis. Towns throughout North Carolina and the Appalachian region have taken pause.
According to Canton Mayor Smathers, this decision to consider banning data centers and cryptocurrency mining was prompted by repeated inquiries from tech companies about the use of the town’s former paper mill site, which laid off over a thousand people and caused the town to lose a large chunk of tax revenue.
Smathers said he worries that the potential consequences caused by these data operations outweigh the benefits of additional tax revenue.
Smathers said most of the inquiries have been preliminary, with companies reaching out to understand the town’s capacity for their product. “They need to know what energy hookup you have, water.”
Data centers store all kinds of information, powering everything from AI to emails. Data centers have expanded in recent years as cloud computing has powered the generative AI boom. Both cryptocurrency mines and data centers require large amounts of energy and cold water to power and cool their rooms of servers, which can quickly get overheated.
Smathers told BPR in an interview that Canton faces difficult decisions.
“Our job is to try to find ways to say ‘yes’ and bring businesses in. But we cannot and will not sacrifice our water and natural resources for the almighty dollar,” Smathers said. “Can there be a balance? Yes. But, this is not all about the money. This is about the people and being authentic to what Canton, what Haywood County is.”
Clay, Haywood, Cherokee, Jackson and Macon Counties have also looked at passing moratoriums or amending ordinances in hopes of limiting crypto mining and data center development.
In 2023, Haywood County was a locus of preemptive action to ward off energy-hungry servers.
That year, both Haywood County and the town of Waynesville took preemptive action to restrict future cryptocurrency mining and data centers within their borders. Haywood County introduced a high-impact ordinance restricting water use, land use, and energy use for new industrial facilities. County PIO Dillon Huffman told BPR that the town couldn’t actually ban these industries as a whole. “We don’t have any zoning in the county,” he said. However, the ordinance restricts a high-impact industry’s land use and requires permitting for any industries exceeding the ordinance’s limits.
The town of Waynesville didn’t pass a moratorium, but instead, in 2023 amended land use prohibited within town limits to include a specific category for cryptocurrency mines and data centers.
Initially, Waynesville Development Services Director Elizabeth Teague told BPR, the concern was the noise. But as she researched data centers for the ordinance, she found herself concerned about the bigger environmental picture.
“Everyone who lives here is extremely protective of their land, and the mountains, and the creeks, and the rivers, and the environment,” Teague said. “The people that are wanting to place these centers here may think it's out of the way, but it's not to the people who live here.”
