Sue Data Centers

Data Center Registry

Project Delta Data Center, Stokes County

Walnut Cove, Stokes County, North Carolina

ProposedIn litigationAI likelyRecord updated July 6, 2026

Project Delta Data Center, Stokes County is a proposed data center in Walnut Cove, North Carolina (Stokes County), operated by Undisclosed (rezoning applicant: Engineered Land Solutions). The public record puts it at announced November 2025, 1,800 acres. It is or has been the subject of litigation over its siting, permitting, or operation.

Every line on this page traces to a public source listed at the bottom. Where a figure was looked for and not found, the row says so. A blank is never a zero.

What our reporting adds

Our case file documents this site. Pending, Stokes County Superior Court (filed March 12, 2026).

Facility record

Proposed

Operator
Undisclosed (rezoning applicant: Engineered Land Solutions)
Facility type
Data center, AI use likely
Location
Walnut Cove, Stokes County, NC
Coordinates
36.2820, -80.1494
Power capacity
Not established from a public source
Land
1,800 acres
Investment
Not established from a public source
Announced
November 2025
Utility
Duke Energy (Belews Creek proximity; no confirmed interconnection)
Power source
On site gas
Cooling
Closed loop
Water use
Not established from a public source
Jobs
Not established from a public source
Public subsidy
Not established from a public source
Community reception
In litigation
Source confidence
Reported by at least one credible outlet or filing

Timeline from the record

Newest first. Record entries come from the filings and reports the registry cites. Coverage entries are headlines from publisher feeds we monitor daily, linked to the outlet; last checked September 14, 2026.

  1. April 14, 2026
    Proposed
    Stokes County Board of Commissioners voted to void January 12 rezoning and text amendment, citing statutory notice failures; project must restart via fully compliant new application Source: NC Health News
  2. March 13, 2026
    Permitted
    Lawsuit filed in Stokes County Superior Court by SCSJ and SELC seeking to invalidate rezoning Source: NC Health News
  3. January 2026
    Permitted
    Stokes County Board of Commissioners approved rezoning 3-2 despite opposition from county Planning Board and residents Source: NC Health News
  4. November 2025
    Proposed
    Engineered Land Solutions submitted rezoning application for 1,800 acres from agricultural/farm use to heavy industrial/commercial near Dan River and Belews Creek Coal Plant

Opposition and litigation at this site

Yes. Project Delta Data Center, Stokes County in Walnut Cove, Stokes County, North Carolina is or has been the subject of litigation over its siting, permitting, or operation. Pending, Stokes County Superior Court (filed March 12, 2026).

How the community has taken it

Reception is a sourced signal, not an editorial judgment: in litigation means the facility is or has been the subject of a lawsuit related to its siting, permitting, or operation.

Pending, Stokes County Superior Court (filed March 12, 2026). Project Delta, a hyperscale AI data center complex on roughly 1,845 acres in the Dan River corridor near Walnut Cove. Lawsuit filed March 13, 2026 in Stokes County Superior Court by Southern Coalition for Social Justice and Southern Environmental Law Center, representing National Hairston Clan, CleanAIRE NC, Dan River Basin Association, 7 Directions of Service, and local residents. Rezoning challenged as lacking procedural safeguards required by NC law. Stokes County Board of Commissioners voted April 14, 2026 to void the January 12 rezoning and text amendment, acknowledging statutory notice failures. Developer ELS expressed intent to resubmit a compliant application; lawsuit remains pending.

Source: NC Health News

Power and water

Developer plans temporary on-site natural-gas generators until a Duke Energy grid connection becomes feasible; no confirmed interconnection agreement found. Environmental groups flagged methane/CO2 from continuous generator use.

Developer estimates 50,000-100,000 gal/day (0.05-0.10 MGD) via a closed-loop system, sourced from municipal supply (not the Dan River), a range, so no numeric MGD.

Notes on the record

Site on US Highway 311 and Tuttle Road near Belews Creek Coal Plant on Dan River. End operator/tenant not publicly identified; rezoning approved for unidentified operator per lawsuit. Rezoning voided April 14, 2026 after court challenge over statutory notice failures. Developer ELS plans to resubmit. Capacity and investment not disclosed. Coordinates are Walnut Cove city centroid.

What the record does not establish, and the document that would

In every fight on our tracker the decisive fact came out of a public records request. These are the requests for this site.

  • Power capacity in megawatts
  • Tax abatements or other public subsidy
  • Permanent jobs promised
Which document closes each gap
Power capacity in megawatts
The utility's large load service agreement, the interconnection request in the grid operator's queue, or the electrical site plan in the permit file.
Tax abatements or other public subsidy
The abatement, PILOT, or development agreement approved by the county, city, or development authority, and the state's data center sales tax exemption certificate if one was issued.
Permanent jobs promised
The economic development application or incentive agreement, which usually states a job commitment and a clawback.

Have one of these documents? Send it to us and we will add it to the record with attribution.

Our reporting on this site

Other sites within 30 miles

Distances are between recorded coordinates, many of which are a city or county centroid, so treat them as approximate. Cumulative load on one utility and one aquifer is the question a planning commission rarely asks.

Questions people ask about this site

Is there opposition to the Project Delta Data Center, Stokes County in Walnut Cove?

Yes. Project Delta Data Center, Stokes County in Walnut Cove, Stokes County, North Carolina is or has been the subject of litigation over its siting, permitting, or operation. Pending, Stokes County Superior Court (filed March 12, 2026).

Has anyone filed a lawsuit over the Project Delta Data Center, Stokes County?

Yes. This site is recorded as being in litigation. The case, the court, and the filings we hold are listed on this page under the timeline and the sources.

How much water does Project Delta Data Center, Stokes County use?

No water withdrawal figure for Project Delta Data Center, Stokes County is on record here. Cooling is recorded as closed_loop, which is the strongest available clue: closed loop and air cooled plant draw far less than evaporative cooling. We leave the number blank rather than estimate one.

Who operates Project Delta Data Center, Stokes County, and how big is it?

Undisclosed (rezoning applicant: Engineered Land Solutions) is the operator on record. No capacity figure is on record for this site. The site is recorded at 1800 acres.

How to cite this page

SueDataCenters.org Data Center Registry, "Project Delta Data Center, Stokes County," updated July 6, 2026, https://suedatacenters.org/data-centers/project-delta-walnut-cove-nc.

Facility data from Compute Atlas (E. Kubiak), version 1.32.0 (September 7, 2026), licensed CC BY 4.0, record https://www.compute-atlas.com/facilities/project-delta-walnut-cove-nc, retrieved September 14, 2026.

Corrections with a public source are welcome at the Compute Atlas record or through our contact page. The whole registry is available as CSV and JSON under CC BY 4.0.

Sources for this record

As compiled and cited by Compute Atlas, with our own reporting appended. Archived links are used where the original has moved.

  1. 1.NC communities push back on AI data centers, Project Delta lawsuit · NC Health News · retrieved July 6, 2026
  2. 2.Walnut Cove Data Center Project Updates 2026 · Blackridge Research · retrieved July 6, 2026
  3. 3.Lawsuit challenges Stokes County data-center rezoning · The Assembly NC · retrieved July 6, 2026
  4. 4.Stokes County proposed data center creates backlash · Spectrum News NC · retrieved July 6, 2026
  5. 5.The Stokes County Project Delta Lawsuit: 1,845 Acres on the Dan River, a 3 to 2 Vote, and a Burial Ground · SueDataCenters.org · retrieved September 2, 2026
  6. 6.Southern Coalition for Social Justice: Community groups, residents file lawsuit over Stokes County data center rezoning (March 2026) · southerncoalition.org · retrieved September 2, 2026
  7. 7.Southern Environmental Law Center: Community groups, residents file lawsuit over Stokes County data center rezoning · selc.org · retrieved September 2, 2026
  8. 8.Programs.com: Data center moratoriums by state, tracker and statistics (as of August 26, 2026) · programs.com · retrieved September 2, 2026

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