NC lands another $1B data center investment, as Google expands outside Charlotte
With a $1 billion investment, Google is planning to expand its data center operations in Caldwell County.
The tech giant announced the additional investment in its Lenoir data center Friday. Lenoir is near Hickory and about 75 miles northwest of Charlotte.
With the investment, Google intends to grow its campus and potentially hire more employees, according to a news release from the tech company. Currently, 400 people work at the center.
North Carolina, including the Charlotte region, is becoming a hot bed for data center expansion amid a massive surge in demand fueled by AI usage. But there’s also been a rise of opposition by residents concerned about their energy usage and other issues.
As for Google, the additional investment would be the second time the tech giant has announced an expansion at the Lenoir data center, which opened almost two decades ago.
In 2024, Google announced a $600 million investment that came with city and county incentives. Lenoir and Caldwell County approved performance-based incentive grants of 50% real property and 85% personal property that would be awarded over 20 years.
It’s unclear whether additional incentives are being proposed with the new expansion.
Google already has invested more than $1.2 billion into the region and North Carolina.
Data centers in North Carolina
Other tech giants also remain active around the region and state.
In February, Microsoft resumed working on its $1 billion data center projects in Catawba County, in Conover, Hickory, Maiden and Newton.
Microsoft is also planning a data center in Person County on 1,350 acres it purchased for $27 million in October 2024. Person County is about 50 miles north of Raleigh.
Last year, Amazon broke ground on a $10 billion, 20-building data center campus in rural Richmond County.
In Charlotte, Texas-based Digital Realty plans to knock down a pair of century-old office buildings to construct a four-story, 12 megawatt data center on East Trade Street covering nearly the entire block. It also intends to open what would be the region’s largest data center campus in west Charlotte at 400 megawatts and 3 million square feet.
Google in Caldwell County and NC
Some residents concerned about data centers cite noise, water usage and the significant power needs.
Google is working on energy initiatives in Caldwell County.
The tech firm also announced on Friday a $2 million Energy Impact Fund in collaboration with Blue Ridge Community Action, Blue Ridge Energy, and Advanced Energy. The fund will lend support to energy affordability, weatherization upgrades, and energy efficiency for both low- to moderate-income households and K-12 schools, according to the news release.
This story was originally published March 13, 2026 at 1:06 PM.
