# Gates County, North Carolina: Power, Data Centers and the Local Economy Home to Sunbury Gates County is one of the places pushing back on the data center build-out. Gates County is home to Gatesville. The Moratorium Tracker holds 1 local measure here (1 in force); the latest is “12-month moratorium on data center approvals”. 1 project is on the Delay Watchlist, including Gates County data center moratorium. Employers here counted 1,428 jobs in 2025, down 6.0% from 2019. Unemployment was 3.6% in August 2026, against 4.3% in 2019. -6.0% total jobs since 2019, now 1,428 15 MW of operating power plants, mostly solar 13.93¢ per kWh for Virginia Electric & Power Co residential customers, 2024 ## Cities and towns in Gates County Gates County is home to Gatesville. Gatesville260 residents Unincorporated communities (governed by the county): Sunbury. Residents are 2025 Census estimates for the part of each city, town or township inside this county. Census publishes no annual estimate for unincorporated communities. ## What changed in Gates County | Measure | Then | Now | Change | Rank in North Carolina | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population (2020 → 2025) | 10,450 | 10,234 | ▼ 2.1% | 96th of 100 by size | | Total jobs (2019 → 2025) | 1,519 | 1,428 | ▼ 6.0% | 87th of 100 by growth | | Average annual pay (2019 → 2025) | $35,689 | $46,065 | ▲ 29.1% | — | | Unemployment rate (2019 → August 2026) | 4.3% | 3.6% | ▼ 0.7pts | — | | Generating capacity added since 2019 | — | 0 MW | | — | | Generating capacity retired since 2019 | — | 0 MW | | — | Its power plants have 15 MW of capacity, 100% of it solar. Virginia Electric & Power Co is the largest utility serving Gates County, one of 2 with territory here. Its residential customers paid an average 13.93¢/kWh in 2024, above the 13.11¢ median for North Carolina utilities. 10,234 people live here, down 2.1% since 2020. ## Who powers Gates County ### Utilities with service territory in Gates County | Utility | Ownership | Service | Residential customers (systemwide) | Residential price, 2024 | Commercial share of sales | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Virginia Electric & Power Co | Investor Owned | Bundled | 108,656 | 13.93¢ | 24% | | Roanoke Electric Member Corp | Cooperative | Bundled | 12,049 | 21.14¢ | 24% | Customer counts, prices and sales shares cover each utility's whole system in the state, not only this county. Commercial sales include data centers. ### Operating power plants | Technology | Capacity | Share | |---|---|---| | Solar | 15 MW | 100% | | Largest plants | Owner | Technology | MW | Since | |---|---|---|---|---| | Gates Solar LLC | Oppidum Renewables USA, LLC | Solar | 5 MW | 2015 | | SoINCPower6, LLC | Deriva Energy | Solar | 5 MW | 2015 | | Sugar Run Solar | Sugar Run Solar, LLC | Solar | 5 MW | 2015 | ## The Gates County labor market | Industry (2025) | Jobs | Average pay | Concentration vs U.S. | |---|---|---|---| | All industries | 1,428 | $46,065 | 1.00 | Concentration is the BLS location quotient: 1.0 means the industry holds the same share of local jobs as it does nationally. Industry rows count private employers; cells BLS suppresses are left out. ## Data centers and local rules in Gates County ### Local measures | Measure | Status | Date | |---|---|---| | 12-month moratorium on data center approvals | In force | 2026-01 | ### Delay Watchlist | Project | Status | Cause | MW | |---|---|---|---| | Gates County data center moratorium | pending review | local moratorium | — | ## Gates County and its neighbors Of the 7 counties that border Gates County, Southampton County carries the most build-out activity: data centers, planned generation and operating plants combined. [[[[[[[ | County | Population | Jobs since 2019 | Operating MW | Planned MW | Data centers | Local measures | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Gates County | 10,234 | ▼ 6.0% | 15 MW | — | — | 1 | | Camden County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/camden-county) | 11,315 | ▼ 2.0% | 35 MW | — | — | — | | Chowan County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/chowan-county) | 14,082 | ▲ 9.9% | 211 MW | — | — | — | | Hertford County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/hertford-county) | 19,015 | ▼ 7.7% | 222 MW | — | — | — | | Pasquotank County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/pasquotank-county) | 42,201 | ▲ 4.6% | 43 MW | 12 MW | — | — | | Perquimans County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/perquimans-county) | 13,490 | ▲ 6.4% | 259 MW | — | — | — | | Southampton County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/southampton-county) VA | 18,110 | ▼ 4.7% | 182 MW | — | 1 | — | | Suffolk (city)](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/virginia/suffolk-city) VA | 104,699 | ▲ 36.3% | 4 MW | — | — | — | ## More of North Carolina [All North Carolina countiesThe state power page and county mapOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina)[Pasquotank County42,201 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/pasquotank-county)[Hertford County19,015 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/hertford-county)[Chowan County14,082 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/chowan-county)[Perquimans County13,490 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/perquimans-county)[Camden County11,315 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/camden-county) ## Gates County, answered from the record ### Who provides electricity in Gates County, North Carolina? 2 utilities have service territory in Gates County in the EIA-861 2024 report: Virginia Electric & Power Co, Roanoke Electric Member Corp. The largest, Virginia Electric & Power Co, charged residential customers 13.93¢/kWh on average in 2024. ### What power plants are in Gates County? 3 operating plants with 15 MW of capacity. The largest is Gates Solar LLC (5 MW, solar). ### Are there data centers in Gates County? The SAVRN Data Center Map has no data center in Gates County. The nearest activity on record is next door in Southampton County. ### Is Gates County adding jobs? Employers counted 1,428 jobs in 2025 against 1,519 in 2019 (-6.0%, BLS QCEW). ### Does Gates County have a data center moratorium? The SAVRN Moratorium Tracker holds 1 local measure for Gates County, 1 in force. --- Canonical: https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/gates-county Updated: 2026-10-08. Refreshed weekly by SAVRN from EIA, BLS, BEA, Census and the SAVRN trackers. License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).