Home/United States/North Carolina/Person County
Data centers in Person County, North Carolina: 1 project mapped
Microsoft owns the Person County Mega Park, about 1,350 acres of fields, forest and creek in Woodsdale Township on the Virginia line, seven miles north of Roxboro, and plans to build a data center there. The company bought the land for about $27 million in October 2024, but it and the county did not confirm the site would hold a data center until February 2026. County Manager Katherine Cathey has said Microsoft plans to begin permitting later in 2026; no size, power figure, investment or job count has been published.
How the deal was done is the local controversy. Records show the county's economic development director, county manager and county attorney worked under non-disclosure agreements on "Project Energy" from May 2024. Commissioners rezoned the land that August without naming the client, then voted 4-1 in September to close a stretch of Country Club Road through the site without telling residents the closure was Microsoft's condition of sale. "It takes EMS 11 minutes to go around now," said Tina Clayton, who lives nearby. Microsoft said in March 2026 it would stop using NDAs with local governments; the economic development director was fired the same month.
Read more
Water and power are what residents keep asking about. Microsoft says it will use air-cooled chillers on a closed loop, pay its own way on electricity, and replenish more water than it uses; Sierra Club member Olive Burress said those commitments are voluntary. Roxboro council member Kendra Coggins said, "It feels like we got a lot of canned responses." Duke Energy is meanwhile adding gas generation and converting two coal units at its nearby Roxboro plant, and the county's economic development chair told state regulators in 2025 that a data center was the reason for the extra capacity.
What comes next is Microsoft's first permit filing, which will show how big the campus is and how much water and power it needs. Residents sent Microsoft 21 questions in August 2025 on water, power, emergency access and timelines; asked whether it would reply, Microsoft pointed to a blog post.
Data center projects on record in Person County
Grouped by the town each site sits in. The report above may name projects that have no record here yet.
Roxboro1
| Project | Company | Status | Power | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Person County Mega ParkRoxboro | Microsoft | Proposed | Not reported |
Where this comes from
The reporting above was written from these. Open one and check it yourself.
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.