Amazon Data Center Project Sparks Regulatory Backlash Over Gas Plant

A proposed gas plant for Amazon's data center in North Carolina has been rejected by GOP regulators, citing a ratepayer protection pledge invoked by President Trump. The decision was made by Commissioner Floyd McKissick and his colleagues, who took issue with the commission's previous reliance on who would pay for the project.

The rejection is not permanent, and Duke Energy will have another chance to refile its application. In the meantime, Amazon has secured permits from the state's Department of Environmental Quality to run 57 temporary diesel generators for a year while the hyperscale facility connects to the electric grid.

This decision marks a rare instance of the commission rejecting a Duke natural gas project, according to Lucy Edmondson, chief counsel for the commission's public staff. A decade ago, the panel greenlit two combined-cycle gas plants but denied a third combustion turbine.