NCLCV Foundation Releases Latest Poll Results of North Carolinians’ Views on Energy Costs, Extreme Weather, Support for Clean Energy, and Opposition to Data Centers
Key Takeaways Include:
- North Carolinians overwhelmingly report utility costs have gone up in the past year (80%)
- Clean and renewable energy is popular, and support for increasing it is high.
- Opposition to data centers outweighs support by a wide margin statewide (33% support to 48% oppose) and is even stronger in the counties most directly affected (35% support to 52% oppose).
We’re excited to share the results of a new poll that shows North Carolinians’ concerns about high utility costs, a decrease in concern about extreme weather, support for clean and renewable energy, and opposition to the growth of data centers in North Carolina. The poll, which includes an oversample of voters from NC counties where data centers are already operating or have been proposed, shows North Carolinians oppose data centers and believe the downsides outweigh the benefits.
An overwhelming majority of North Carolina voters (80%) say the cost of utilities – like electricity and heating – has gone up in the past year, with 35% of those saying they have gone up a lot, while only 17% say they stayed about the same, and a mere 2% report they have gone down.
Belief that extreme weather is increasing has gone down since last year, returning to levels closer to those before Hurricane Helene, driven by declines among conservatives and residents of eastern NC. Overall, 62% say extreme weather is increasing, versus 69% last July and 58% in May 2024 who felt that way.
Clean and renewable energy is popular in North Carolina, with 61% favorable feelings about each. On the other end of the scale, only 30% feel favorable towards fossil fuels. There is also strong support for increasing clean and renewable energy (74%) and reducing reliance on fossil fuels (63%) in North Carolina.
How Do North Carolinians Feel About Data Centers?
North Carolinians’ feelings about data centers are negative, especially in counties where they are already operating or have been proposed. Opposition to data centers outweighs support by a wide margin statewide (33% support to 48% oppose) and is even stronger in the counties most directly affected (35% support to 52% oppose). More North Carolinians believe the downsides outweigh the benefits (43% downsides to 25% benefits), while 16% believe they are equal and 16% have no idea. In terms of the three most important impacts of data centers, the cost of electricity is the biggest impact (58%), while the availability of clean drinking water where you live is second (43%). Impact on the local economy (41%) and the availability of good-paying jobs in your community (36%) aren’t nearly as significant.
“Concern about the rising cost of electricity is top of mind for North Carolinians,” said Carrie Clark, executive director for NCLCVF. “With wind and solar power generation being the most cost-effective and fastest to get online electricity generation, we hope folks recognize clean, renewable energy is an important part of the solution. We’re also encouraged to see North Carolinians understand the concerns about data centers; significant energy use and water use have much bigger impacts than promises of economic benefits.”
More Background on the Polling
Download the poll results here.
The poll was conducted by Hart Research, one of the premiere research firms in the United States. It was an online survey of 993 registered voters in North Carolina, including an oversample of counties with existing and proposed data centers (411interviews total), with a credibility interval of ± 3.66 percentage points for the full sample (larger for oversample), and was fielded June 1-9, 2026. The poll also includes the results of online qualitative research (QualBoard) conducted with climate responsive North Carolinians in counties with existing and proposed data centers. We excluded respondents who were not open to influence on climate issues, including excluding those who do not believe climate change is a serious problem and those who feel very negative toward investing in clean energy. Prior results cited in the research were also from polling conducted by Hart Research for the NC League of Conservation Voters Foundation using similar phrasing. For more than five decades, Hart Research has been at the forefront of monitoring and tracking public opinion on the most pressing issues of the day. Via thousands of qualitative and quantitative research projects, we have enabled major organizations across the public, private, and non-profit sectors to understand and harness public opinion to help forward their agendas. A mainstay of Hart Research’s work is our regular bipartisan public opinion polling on behalf of NBC News and CNBC’s quarterly All-America Economic Survey.