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Read. Follow. Verify.North Carolina House Bill 638 assigns electricity grid expansion costs to new data centers and electric vehicle charging stations
Last action · April 2, 2025: Ref to the Com on Energy and Public Utilities, if favorable, Finance, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House (House action)Sponsors: Donnie Loftis and 4 others
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What This Bill Would Do
North Carolina House Bill 638 requires new data centers and electric vehicle charging stations to cover the costs of the additional electricity demand they place on the power grid. Under the bill, new data centers must contract directly for power supplies or face the recoupment of state economic incentives, while new electric vehicles and charging stations face special grid-expansion fees. The measure takes effect immediately upon becoming law.
The bill shifts infrastructure and power generation costs away from standard residential ratepayers and directly onto newly established data centers and electric vehicle operators. Data centers unable to secure power agreements risk losing state-provided economic incentives, while EV owners face dedicated grid-construction fees separate from standard road maintenance taxes.
- House Bill 638 was introduced in the North Carolina General Assembly during the 2025 session by Representative Loftis and referred to legislative committees for review. context
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Data center operators
Must independently contract for or build dedicated dispatchable power supplies and face potential recoupment of state economic incentives if compliance terms are violated.
Electric vehicle and plug-in hybrid vehicle owners
Must pay a dedicated grid-expansion fee on new vehicle purchases, licensing, and usage of state-owned charging stations.
Electric utilities
Must negotiate prices and power construction contracts directly with new data centers and split wholesale profits from excess power generation.
North Carolina residential ratepayers
Protected from absorbing infrastructure and cost overruns associated with increased electricity demand from new data centers and electric vehicles.
Key Facts
- A fee is placed on all new electric vehicle (EV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) charging stations connected to the grid and all new EVs or PHEVs sold or licensed in North Carolina, dedicated solely to constructing new dispatchable power supplies.
- State-owned charging stations must assess a user fee deposited into a fund for electrical grid maintenance and upgrades, providing consumers with a receipt detailing the fee and purpose.
- New data centers requiring dispatchable power must contract directly with local utilities for the construction of necessary power sources without cost overruns being borne by general ratepayers.
- If state or local entities provide economic incentives for a new data center, they must execute a memorandum of understanding allowing the North Carolina Utilities Commission to recoup the cash value of incentives if terms are violated.
Show all 6 facts
- If a data center cannot reach a power agreement with the local utility, it may submit its own plan to the Commission to develop and deliver compliant dispatchable power.
- Excess power generated by a data center's dedicated dispatchable source can be sold to the broader grid at wholesale rates, with profits split between the utility and the data center per their contract.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who has to pay the new electric vehicle fees created by this bill?
What happens if a new data center cannot agree with a local utility on power construction?
Can state economic incentives given to a data center be taken back?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
3 actions- Apr 2, 2025HouseRef to the Com on Energy and Public Utilities, if favorable, Finance, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
- Apr 2, 2025HousePassed 1st Reading
- Apr 1, 2025HouseIntroducedFiled
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Shift of Grid Infrastructure Costs from Ratepayers to Tech Sectors
The legislation establishes a clear policy shift away from socializing grid expansion costs among general utility customers, placing the financial burden directly onto new high-demand commercial users and electric vehicle operators.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.ncleg.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance85How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy75Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment15Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz60Current news / social attention level
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