Data centers in Richmond County, North Carolina: 1 project mapped

Imagery: Esri, Maxar

Richmond County is getting what North Carolina officials call the largest economic development project in state history: a $10 billion Amazon data center near Hamlet, now under construction. It will have 21 buildings of 200,000 square feet each and need about 1 gigawatt of power. Inside Climate News pieced together how it arrived: on March 19, 2025, county officials drafted a confidential purchase agreement with "Project Blue Marlin" for a 646-acre county-owned forest and a disused chicken farm, then rezoned the farm to heavy industrial two weeks later. An agreement dated April 3 granted a 50 percent property tax break on buildings and 65 percent on machinery over 20 years, for $1 billion of investment and 50 jobs; the public hearings drew no speakers, and no document disclosed that the land would become a data center.

Neighbors say nobody told them. "I don't recall any public hearing," said Lee Quick, who lives across the road. "No one informed me that it was coming." More than 200 people came to the state's July 2026 hearing on air permits for Amazon's generators and for 57 more diesel units Duke Energy will run as "bridge power" for a year until the transmission line is built. "It is shameful to sign away public trust while residents are left to ask basic questions about our energy, wells, water, wildlife and our health," said Shaun Ingram of the Richmond County Coalition for Justice and Black Empowerment. The state approved both permits, 645 generators in all. Amazon says the generators are for emergencies and testing only.

Every project above is drawn from public records, filings and local reporting. Each row links to what it is based on. Statuses change, so check the source date before you rely on one. Found something wrong? Write to [email protected] and it gets fixed.