Conover joins Catawba County update on Microsoft data-center development

Conover has joined Catawba County and other local partners in a new update on Microsoft’s planned data-center development, saying the project has progressed and that questions about its potential community effects have increased.

The joint statement, dated June 23, 2026, places the project within a broader national discussion about data centers. It does not announce a final construction decision, a completion date or a new local approval.

A phased project announced in 2022

Catawba County, Conover, Hickory, Maiden and the Catawba County Economic Development Corporation announced Microsoft’s plan in November 2022. The proposal calls for at least $1 billion in investment to develop four data centers in phases over a 10-year period.

That scale would make the project a significant long-term development issue for the governments involved. For Conover, the potential effects include land use, infrastructure, utility demand, the local tax base and economic development. Those are areas that can affect residents, taxpayers, businesses and local government planning even as the project’s eventual footprint and effects remain unsettled.

The June statement characterizes the development as advancing, but it does not provide a final construction cost, current construction status, exact sites, projected power or water demand, incentive terms, expected tax receipts or a next regulatory decision. It also does not establish which of the planned facilities, if any, would be located within Conover.

Questions grow as project advances

The statement’s reference to community-impact questions does not describe confirmed harms. Instead, it acknowledges issues that local officials and the public may weigh as a large, phased data-center proposal moves forward.

The distinction matters because the project remains a plan with a stated investment target and development timeline, rather than a completed four-facility buildout. The available public update confirms the proposal’s announced scope and the participating local governments, but it does not establish how much of the development has been built or when the full plan would be completed.

For now, the June 23 statement is an update on an ongoing, multi-jurisdictional effort. Any future decisions involving construction, utilities, land use, incentives or local approvals would determine more precisely how the project affects Conover and the surrounding Catawba County communities.