# Rowan County, North Carolina: Power, Data Centers and the Local Economy Home to Salisbury, Kannapolis and China Grove Rowan County is one of the places pushing back on the data center build-out. Rowan County is home to Salisbury, part of Kannapolis (11,556 of its 61,708 residents), China Grove and Landis. The Moratorium Tracker holds 1 local measure here (1 in force); the latest is “One-year data center moratorium”. Construction employs 3,211, up 14.1% since 2019. Its power plants have 1,943 MW of capacity, 97% of it natural gas, the 10th largest fleet in North Carolina. Electrical contractors employ 387, up 10.3% since 2019 against up 19.7% statewide, at an average $62,243 a year. 1,943 MW of operating power plants, mostly natural gas +10.3% electrical contractor jobs since 2019, now 387 +4.8% total jobs since 2019, now 51,121 ## Cities and towns in Rowan County Rowan County is home to Salisbury, part of Kannapolis (11,556 of its 61,708 residents), China Grove and Landis. Salisbury36,879 residents Kannapolis11,556 residents · 19% of the city China Grove4,650 residents Landis3,885 residents Spencer3,450 residents Granite Quarry3,129 residents Rockwell2,417 residents East Spencer1,650 residents Cleveland902 residents Faith845 residents - Kannapolis also extends into [Cabarrus County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/cabarrus-county). Unincorporated communities (governed by the county): Enochville, Gold Hill. 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 Rowan County | Measure | Then | Now | Change | Rank in North Carolina | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population (2020 → 2025) | 146,893 | 155,096 | ▲ 5.6% | 20th of 100 by size | | Total jobs (2019 → 2025) | 48,767 | 51,121 | ▲ 4.8% | 40th of 100 by growth | | Average annual pay (2019 → 2025) | $45,395 | $60,925 | ▲ 34.2% | — | | Construction jobs (2019 → 2025) | 2,813 | 3,211 | ▲ 14.1% | 35th of 60 by growth | | Electrical contractor jobs (2019 → 2025) | 351 | 387 | ▲ 10.3% | — | | Unemployment rate (2019 → August 2026) | 4.0% | 3.6% | ▼ 0.4pts | — | | Generating capacity added since 2019 | — | 10 MW | | — | | Generating capacity retired since 2019 | — | 0 MW | | — | 10 MW of that came online in 2019 or later, mostly solar. Employers here counted 51,121 jobs in 2025, up 4.8% from 2019. Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC is the largest utility serving Rowan County, one of 4 with territory here. Its residential customers paid an average 13.94¢/kWh in 2024, above the 13.11¢ median for North Carolina utilities. Unemployment was 3.6% in August 2026, against 4.0% in 2019. 155,096 people live here, up 5.6% since 2020. ## Who powers Rowan County ### Utilities with service territory in Rowan County | Utility | Ownership | Service | Residential customers (systemwide) | Residential price, 2024 | Commercial share of sales | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC | Investor Owned | Bundled | 1,919,372 | 13.94¢ | 42% | | EnergyUnited Elec Member Corp | Cooperative | Bundled | 121,995 | 11.54¢ | 23% | | Union Electric Membership Corp - (NC) | Cooperative | Bundled | 84,602 | 13.37¢ | 12% | | Town of Landis - (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 | |---|---|---| | Natural gas | 1,890 MW | 97% | | Solar | 51 MW | 3% | | Petroleum | 2 MW | 0% | | Largest plants | Owner | Technology | MW | Since | |---|---|---|---|---| | Rowan | Southern Power Co | Natural gas | 1,192 MW | 2001 | | Buck | Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC | Natural gas | 698 MW | 2011 | | Woodleaf Solar Facility | Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC | Solar | 6 MW | 2018 | | Meadowbrook Solar Farm | Cypress Creek Renewables | Solar | 5 MW | 2016 | | Organ Church Solar | MN8 Energy LLC | Solar | 5 MW | 2019 | | Saw Solar | SunStrong Management | Solar | 5 MW | 2022 | ## The Rowan County labor market | Industry (2025) | Jobs | Average pay | Concentration vs U.S. | |---|---|---|---| | All industries | 51,121 | $60,925 | 1.00 | | Construction | 3,211 | $72,526 | 1.19 | | Electrical contractors | 387 | $62,243 | 1.05 | 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 Rowan County ### Local measures | Measure | Status | Date | |---|---|---| | One-year data center moratorium | In force | 2026-04 | ## Rowan County and its neighbors Of the 6 counties that border Rowan County, Davidson 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 | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Rowan County | 155,096 | ▲ 4.8% | 1,943 MW | — | — | 1 | | Cabarrus County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/cabarrus-county) | 249,725 | ▲ 19.1% | 128 MW | — | 1 | — | | Davidson County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/davidson-county) | 180,182 | ▲ 4.9% | 54 MW | 135 MW | — | 1 | | Davie County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/davie-county) | 45,855 | ▲ 13.4% | 53 MW | 60 MW | — | 1 | | Iredell County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/iredell-county) | 211,798 | ▲ 7.1% | 43 MW | 10 MW | — | — | | Montgomery County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/montgomery-county) | 26,403 | ▼ 5.4% | 261 MW | — | — | — | | Stanly County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/stanly-county) | 68,830 | ▲ 22.6% | 282 MW | — | — | — | ## More of North Carolina [All North Carolina countiesThe state power page and county mapOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina)[Cabarrus County249,725 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/cabarrus-county)[Iredell County211,798 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/iredell-county)[Davidson County180,182 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/davidson-county)[Stanly County68,830 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/stanly-county)[Davie County45,855 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/davie-county) ## Rowan County, answered from the record ### Who provides electricity in Rowan County, North Carolina? 4 utilities have service territory in Rowan County in the EIA-861 2024 report: Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC, EnergyUnited Elec Member Corp, Union Electric Membership Corp - (NC), Town of Landis - (NC). The largest, Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC, charged residential customers 13.94¢/kWh on average in 2024. ### What county is Salisbury, NC in? Salisbury is in Rowan County, North Carolina. About 36,879 people live there (2025 Census estimate). ### Is Kannapolis in Rowan County? Partly. 11,556 of Kannapolis's 61,708 residents (19%) live in Rowan County; most of the city is in Cabarrus County. ### What power plants are in Rowan County? 15 operating plants with 1,943 MW of capacity. The largest is Rowan (1,192 MW, natural gas). ### Are there data centers in Rowan County? The SAVRN Data Center Map has no data center in Rowan County. The nearest activity on record is next door in Cabarrus County. ### Is Rowan County adding jobs? Employers counted 51,121 jobs in 2025 against 48,767 in 2019 (+4.8%, BLS QCEW). Construction went from 2,813 to 3,211. ### Does Rowan County have a data center moratorium? The SAVRN Moratorium Tracker holds 1 local measure for Rowan County, 1 in force. --- Canonical: https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/north-carolina/rowan-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/).