North Carolina is caught in a mounting clash between technological infrastructure and rising utility costs. Data centers—massive, power-hungry computer warehouses—are proliferating across the state, driving demand for electricity just as Duke Energy seeks to raise rates. Residents are fighting back. They're filling public hearings to protest climbing electric bills and pushing local moratoriums to block new data center construction. The conflict underscores a broader tension: the expansion of AI and cloud infrastructure requires enormous energy, but those costs ripple directly to families and businesses footing the bill. According to Canary Media, this is shaping up as a defining battle over who bears the infrastructure boom's expense.

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