Michael Whatley's Financial Interests in North Carolina Data Center Expansion

<p>Michael Whatley, the former chair of the Republican National Committee and the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in North Carolina, and his family hold between $246,000 and $690,000 in energy investments with companies involved in data center growth in North Carolina, according to his federal disclosure.</p><p>These holdings raise questions about whether Whatley or his family could benefit from his support of data center expansion, which has garnered national attention regarding community zoning, energy use, and state growth.</p><p>Most of his reported holdings are with four companies.</p><p>Whatley and his family have investments between $149,000 and $410,000 in Duke Energy, between $1,000 and $15,000 in Arista Networks, from $80,000 to $200,000 with Dominion Energy, and between $16,000 and $65,000 in GE Vernova.</p><p>While most of these companies, like Duke and Vernova, do not directly build data centers, they provide services or products used by them. Duke is a major utility provider in North Carolina, and Vernova produces on-site gas turbines used by data center facilities operated by companies such as Amazon and Microsoft.</p><p>Additionally, Whatley reported $361,000 from CAPCVentures LLC, a D.C. firm, for consulting services in 2025, according to his financial disclosure. This firm lists GE Vernova—a major supplier of turbines and grid equipment used to power data centers—as a client, along with Centrus Energy and the Renewable Fuels Association.</p><p>Earlier reports indicated his pay from the same firm at about $755,000 between 2022 and 2025.</p><p>When asked about his holdings and potential conflicts of interest, Whatley's campaign stated that he supports restrictions on stock trading for members of Congress.</p><p>"Whatley supports the Stop Insider Trading Act and urges the U.S. Senate to pass the commonsense legislation, and supports commonsense reforms requiring elected officials to place their assets in qualified blind trusts, ensuring they have no control over how those assets are invested," DJ Griffin, a campaign spokesperson, said in a statement to Fox News Digital.</p><p>The campaign also mentioned that Whatley would support allowing local communities to decide what types of data center projects to accept and which to reject.</p><p>"Michael Whatley's standard is simple: data centers pay their own way, families pay nothing and communities decide. That means Big Tech builds or buys every megawatt it needs and covers every dime of the grid upgrades to deliver it, with zero costs shifted onto residential ratepayers. It means no special subsidies and no sweetheart deals cut over the heads of taxpayers," Griffin continued.</p><p>"And it means the people of North Carolina's counties and towns, not bureaucrats in Raleigh or Washington, decide what gets built in their communities. North Carolina should win the AI economy, and it should win it on terms that protect the families who live here."</p><p>Whatley's campaign also criticized his Democratic opponent, Roy Cooper, the former governor of North Carolina.</p><p>"Roy Cooper is the only candidate in this race who has used the powers of his elected office to recruit data centers to NC and to have them subsidized by NC taxpayers," Griffin added, noting that Cooper has also supported restrictions on congressional stock trading.</p><p>Notably, the bulk of North Carolina’s tax breaks existed before Cooper became governor in 2017.</p><p>The year before, in 2016, the state implemented statute G.S.105-164.13, which expanded data center tax exemptions on sales, servers, storage, and networking for companies investing at least $75 million in projects over five years.</p><p>The state approved several major grants to companies like Apple and Corvid Technologies under Cooper's administration through "Job Development Investment Grants" (JDIGs).</p><p>These grants aimed to further job development in the state, aligning with existing development efforts. Among the notable JDIGs, Apple entered into an $845 million grant over 39 years alongside another $112.4 million for an industrial development fund to build out rural infrastructure. The agreement is contingent on Apple creating a certain number of jobs, but the company has yet to meet the JDIG's projected goals since its implementation.</p><p>Cooper's campaign criticized Whatley for not being sensitive enough to local opposition to data center expansion.</p><p>"Longtime utility company lobbyist Michael Whatley believes people’s concerns about data centers are fake as he continues to shill for his billionaire buddies in the utility industry instead of standing up against rate hikes that are crushing hardworking families," a spokesperson for the Cooper campaign said in a statement.</p><p>Cooper has taken a more critical approach to data center expansion, arguing that they are forcing local communities into higher utility bills.</p><p>Like many Democrats on the topic, Cooper has framed his stance in the broader context of affordability policies.</p><p>"[Cooper] believes local communities must have the final say on new projects coming to their area, which includes local moratoriums, and data centers must pay for all of the energy they use without passing on any of their costs to consumers," Cooper's campaign said.</p><p>Having cleared their respective primaries, Cooper and Whatley will face off in North Carolina's general election on Nov. 3.</p>