# Nash County, North Carolina: Power, Data Centers and the Local Economy Home to Rocky Mount, Nashville and Red Oak Nash County is one of the places pushing back on the data center build-out. Nash County is home to most of Rocky Mount (39,790 of its 55,120 residents), Nashville, Red Oak and Spring Hope. The Moratorium Tracker holds 1 local measure here (1 in force); the latest is “Nash County adopts moratorium on data centers and crypto mining”. Construction employs 2,593, up 17.6% since 2019. 214 MW of that came online in 2019 or later, mostly solar. Electrical contractors employ 481, up 12.1% since 2019 against up 19.7% statewide, at an average $72,088 a year. +12.1% electrical contractor jobs since 2019, now 481 2 MW of generating capacity retired since 2019 379 MW of operating power plants, mostly solar ## Cities and towns in Nash County Nash County is home to most of Rocky Mount (39,790 of its 55,120 residents), Nashville, Red Oak and Spring Hope. Rocky Mount39,790 residents · 72% of the city Nashville5,911 residents Red Oak3,523 residents Spring Hope1,383 residents Sharpsburg1,129 residents · 63% of the city Dortches1,103 residents Middlesex975 residents Bailey593 residents Whitakers349 residents · 54% of the city Castalia280 residents Momeyer261 residents - Rocky Mount also extends into [Edgecombe County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/edgecombe-county). - Sharpsburg also extends into [Wilson County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/wilson-county), [Edgecombe County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/edgecombe-county). - Whitakers also extends into [Edgecombe County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/edgecombe-county). 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 Nash County | Measure | Then | Now | Change | Rank in North Carolina | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population (2020 → 2025) | 95,633 | 99,365 | ▲ 3.9% | 30th of 100 by size | | Total jobs (2019 → 2025) | 40,575 | 40,231 | ▼ 0.8% | 66th of 100 by growth | | Average annual pay (2019 → 2025) | $41,890 | $55,481 | ▲ 32.4% | — | | Construction jobs (2019 → 2025) | 2,205 | 2,593 | ▲ 17.6% | 29th of 60 by growth | | Electrical contractor jobs (2019 → 2025) | 429 | 481 | ▲ 12.1% | — | | Unemployment rate (2019 → August 2026) | 4.7% | 4.6% | ▼ 0.1pts | — | | Generating capacity added since 2019 | — | 214 MW | | — | | Generating capacity retired since 2019 | — | 2 MW | | — | 2 MW has retired here since 2019, including Rocky Mount Mill (hydro, 2 MW, 2024). Its power plants have 379 MW of capacity, 100% of it solar. Duke Energy Progress - (NC) is the largest utility serving Nash County, one of 8 with territory here. Its residential customers paid an average 15.54¢/kWh in 2024, above the 13.11¢ median for North Carolina utilities. Employers here counted 40,231 jobs in 2025, down 0.8% from 2019. 99,365 people live here, up 3.9% since 2020. Unemployment was 4.6% in August 2026, against 4.7% in 2019. ## Who powers Nash County ### Utilities with service territory in Nash County | Utility | Ownership | Service | Residential customers (systemwide) | Residential price, 2024 | Commercial share of sales | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Duke Energy Progress - (NC) | Investor Owned | Bundled | 1,356,079 | 15.54¢ | 36% | | Virginia Electric & Power Co | Investor Owned | Bundled | 108,656 | 13.93¢ | 24% | | Wake Electric Membership Corp | Cooperative | Bundled | 53,268 | 13.42¢ | 14% | | City of Wilson - (NC) | Municipal | Bundled | 32,078 | 12.13¢ | 28% | | City of Rocky Mount - (NC) | Municipal | Bundled | 25,407 | 12.18¢ | 40% | | Edgecombe-Martin County E M C | Cooperative | Bundled | 10,716 | 16.06¢ | 21% | | Halifax Electric Member Corp | — | — | — | — | — | | Town of Sharpsburg - (NC) | — | — | — | — | — | 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 | 379 MW | 100% | | Largest plants | Owner | Technology | MW | Since | |---|---|---|---|---| | Red Bud Solar Plant | Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC | Solar | 80 MW | 2025 | | Phobos Solar, LLC | Phobos Solar, LLC | Solar | 79 MW | 2023 | | Brantley Solar | John Laing US Solar Corp. | Solar | 50 MW | 2018 | | East Nash PV2 | Pine Gate Renewables | Solar | 23 MW | 2023 | | Watson Seed Farm PV1 | Strata Manager, LLC | Solar | 20 MW | 2015 | | Whitakers | Deriva Energy | Solar | 12 MW | 2015 | ### Retired since 2019 | Plant | Technology | MW | Year | |---|---|---|---| | Rocky Mount Mill | Hydro | 2 MW | 2024 | ## The Nash County labor market | Industry (2025) | Jobs | Average pay | Concentration vs U.S. | |---|---|---|---| | All industries | 40,231 | $55,481 | 1.00 | | Construction | 2,593 | $72,352 | 1.22 | | Electrical contractors | 481 | $72,088 | 1.66 | 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 Nash County ### Local measures | Measure | Status | Date | |---|---|---| | Nash County adopts moratorium on data centers and crypto mining | In force | 2026-09 | ## Nash County and its neighbors Of the 7 counties that border Nash County, Wake 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 | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Nash County | 99,365 | ▼ 0.8% | 379 MW | — | — | 1 | | Edgecombe County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/edgecombe-county) | 49,121 | ▼ 6.5% | 284 MW | 75 MW | — | 1 | | Franklin County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/franklin-county) | 82,037 | ▲ 19.6% | 136 MW | — | — | — | | Halifax County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/halifax-county) | 46,534 | ▼ 3.5% | 850 MW | 173 MW | — | — | | Johnston County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/johnston-county) | 256,448 | ▲ 29.2% | 112 MW | 73 MW | — | — | | Wake County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/wake-county) | 1,257,235 | ▲ 15.7% | 1,108 MW | 56 MW | 12 | — | | Warren County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/warren-county) | 18,898 | ▼ 4.7% | 154 MW | — | — | — | | Wilson County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/wilson-county) | 81,150 | ▼ 3.4% | 131 MW | 20 MW | — | — | ## More of North Carolina [All North Carolina countiesThe state power page and county mapOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina)[Wake County1,257,235 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/wake-county)[Johnston County256,448 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/johnston-county)[Franklin County82,037 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/franklin-county)[Wilson County81,150 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/wilson-county)[Edgecombe County49,121 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/edgecombe-county) ## Nash County, answered from the record ### Who provides electricity in Nash County, North Carolina? 8 utilities have service territory in Nash County in the EIA-861 2024 report: Duke Energy Progress - (NC), Virginia Electric & Power Co, Wake Electric Membership Corp, City of Wilson - (NC). The largest, Duke Energy Progress - (NC), charged residential customers 15.54¢/kWh on average in 2024. ### What county is Rocky Mount, NC in? Most of Rocky Mount is in Nash County: 39,790 of its 55,120 residents, or 72%. The rest of the city lies in Edgecombe County. ### What power plants are in Nash County? 32 operating plants with 379 MW of capacity. The largest is Red Bud Solar Plant (80 MW, solar). ### Are there data centers in Nash County? The SAVRN Data Center Map has no data center in Nash County. The nearest activity on record is next door in Wake County. ### Is Nash County adding jobs? Employers counted 40,231 jobs in 2025 against 40,575 in 2019 (-0.8%, BLS QCEW). Construction went from 2,205 to 2,593. ### Does Nash County have a data center moratorium? The SAVRN Moratorium Tracker holds 1 local measure for Nash County, 1 in force. --- Canonical: https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/nash-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/).