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Book in minutes at vaccassist.com. Sponsored by Pfizer. It's 505 and welcome in to a Thursday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour on Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 FM. WBT, I'm Nick Craig. Good morning to you.
We start off with some North Carolina news this morning as the state has consistently been one of the fastest growing in the nation. And for 2026, well, that trend continues. Even with a decline in international migration, North Carolina continues to grow according to new details from the U.S. Census Bureau. From July 1st, 2024 to July 1st, 2025, North Carolina added a new 145,000 residents, bringing the state's population to an estimated 11.2 million.
This growth rate of 1.3% is the third highest rate in the United States, only behind South Carolina and Idaho. In terms of raw numbers, North Carolina came in third with the almost 1.5%. 146,000 new residents, trailing two other states, both Texas and Florida, that it has continued to trail in other recent years. Texas added the largest number of new residents overall with a whopping 391,000 new people moving to the lone star state in that same calendar year, July 24 to July 25, and Florida added 197,000 new residents as well. Over the past few years, North Carolina has experienced a tremendous and consistent population growth, ranking among the fastest growing states in the nation.
Growth did slow during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the state saw a bounce back in 2022 as state migration continued to grow. Thousands of new residents relocated from some of the higher-cost states like New York and California, which contributed to high population growth in many states, including, as we mentioned, Texas, Florida, and February. And North Carolina. Birth rates stayed roughly the same in the same time period. According to the 2024 data from the U.S.
Census Bureau, it showed that North Carolina recorded over 160,000 new residents. While the growth has slowed down compared to the previous calendar year, North Carolina continues to benefit from nationwide migration despite the effects of a noticeable drop in international migration to the United States. Assistant Division Chief for Estimates and Projections at the Census Bureau, Christine Hartley, said the slowdown in U.S. population growth is largely due to a historical decline in net international migration, which dropped from 2.7 million to 1.3 million in the period from July 24 through June of 2025. Across the country, that international migration decline did take place, with officials within the U.S.
Census Bureau saying that this was the chief cause. of the U.S. population growth slowing to just half a percentage point across the nation, which is the slowest rate since the COVID-19 pandemic back in 2020. Housing prices have soared as these new arrivals continue to pour into states like North Carolina, causing some friction and frustration for current residents. There is also some concerns about if infrastructure and public services will be able to meet some of these major population demands.
Back to some of the comments from the Census Bureau with Christine Hartley saying, with births and deaths remaining relatively stable compared to the prior year, the sharp decline in net international migration is the main reason for the slower growth rates that we see today. The data gathered by the United States Census Bureau found that almost every state had population growth slow or decline. The only two states that avoided that decline were West Virginia and Montana. like Charlotte, Raleigh, and Durham are expected to continue to grow. That is in large part due to strong job markets and corporate relocations from other places in the United States.
More details in regard to specific North Carolina data for cities, especially our larger cities across the state, will come out from the Census Bureau coming up here in just a couple of months in March.
So as soon as we get some of the data and information on that, we'll bring it to you right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. In some other statewide news this morning, the Trump administration and a bipartisan group of governors, including North Carolina Democrat Governor Josh Stein, are pressuring and putting pressure on the nation's largest regional electrical grid operator to rein in on rising electrical costs. The coalition of bipartisan politicians is urging the PJM IntraConnect, which serves states such as Virginia, Tennessee, Ohio, and portions of northeastern North Carolina. To lower prices as demand surges, particularly from AI data centers. The governor recently said in a press release: I am committed to keeping electrical costs as low as possible for families.
That means making sure data centers pay their fair share for electricity that they require to be generated. I applaud the U. S. Department of Energy for this innovative and for this innovation and remain committed to making life as affordable as possible for North Carolina. Jon Sanders, who is the director of the Center for Food, Power and Life at the John Locke Foundation, told CarolinaJournal.com that data centers and their power needs are a real problem for electricity grids and electrical customers in the short term.
While the centers will pay for electrical for electricity that they consume with the amounts, there is a very real presence necessary in building more power plants, with those expenses getting appropriated out to other consumer bills as well. And that is the problem with the governors and Trump administration and what they are trying to address. At the 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos, President Donald Trump outlined plans to cut red tape and let data centers companies build their own capacity, saying in part, We're leading China by a lot. And I think President Xi respects what we've done in part because I've allowed these big companies building these massive buildings to build their own electrical capacity. They're building their own power plants, which, when added up, is more than any other country's.
John Sanders echoed the statements from President Trump, highlighting the importance of reducing a regulation, saying if facilities are able to be built, their own facilities are able to build their own power generators, that would be the best solution for other customers. Unfortunately, permitting delays make it difficult to get power plants built quickly and add to their expense. Plus, natural gas supplies that could help. The data centers power themselves have been constrained in the mid-Atlantic owning to pipeline permitting delays, denials, lawsuits, and other political obstructions. In June of last year, Amazon announced plans to invest nearly $10 billion to launch a new high-tech cloud computing and AI innovation campus in Richmond County.
With recent analysis from Bloomberg showing wholesale electricity prices in many parts of the United States have surged dramatically since 2020. with some areas near large AI data center hubs seeing costs rise as much as 267% compared to where some of those numbers were just five years ago. The report tracked electricity prices at thousands of grid nodes and found that price increases are much more concentrated near regions with heavy data center activity, suggesting that there is likely a strong connection or correlation between rapid data center growth and local electricity cost pressures. More than 70% of the locations tracked with rising prices are within roughly 50 miles of major data centers. John Sanders says it's good to see a bipartisan agreement again on the importance of affordable electricity, noting that we've been working at the John Locke Foundation to promote the least cost of most reliable electricity despite the carbon plan law promoting inefficient, unreliable sources and close working baseload things like coal-fired power plants.
Senate Bill 266, the Power Bill Reduction Act, became law in June of 2025 after the North Carolina General Assembly overrode a veto from Democrat Governor Josh Stein. The measure removes the state's mandate to reduce carbon emissions by 70%. That was scheduled to be done by the year 2030 and is expected to save North Carolinians up to $15 billion in future utility costs. Duke Energy, which is the state's largest electrical producer and provider, filed a plan with the North Carolina Utilities Commission back in October, projecting average annual bill increases of 2.1 percent for their customers moving forward.
However, important to note, the plan relies more heavily on sources like nuclear power, natural gas, and coal, as well as moving away from the use of unreliable and very expensive forms of energy like wind power. We've got some additional details on this story. This morning on our website, CarolinaJournal.com, that headline story: bipartisan state, federal pressure on grid operators to lower costs. Let's go! You're still grooving, still connecting, still loving, still turning up, still thriving.
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Sponsored by Pfizer. It's 521. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour on Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 FM. WBT, I'm Nick Craig. Good morning to you.
Some pretty major business announcements here across the state of North Carolina. Yesterday, January the 22nd, 7th, President Donald Trump announced that John Deere would move production facilities from Japan to Kernersville, North Carolina.
However, the Tar Heel State is not the only individual state with a new John Deere facility. A state-of-the-art distribution facility was also announced to be built in portions of Indiana. The president said during the announcement, I think it's going to pay off very big. If it doesn't, I had nothing to do with it. But if it does, I'm going to take full credit.
This is going to be the only excavator entirely made in the United States of America. John Deere is one of the nation's largest manufacturers of heavy farm equipment and employs.
Some 30,000 people across 60 facilities nationwide. The Kernersville facility will be an excavator production facility manufacturing the only excavator designed, developed, and manufactured on U.S.
soil. The same facility will be a $70 million investment from John Deere and is expected to employ more than 150 individuals. John May, who is the chairman and chief executive officer of John Deere, recently said in a press release: Our investment in these new facilities underscores John Deere's dedication to strengthening the backbone of American industry and supporting local economies. We believe in building American and that these projects represent our intent to continue driving innovation and job creation in the United States. According to Reuters, in 2024, under the Biden administration, John Deere announced a commitment to invest in Kernersville, creating the same number of jobs.
When asked whether the Trump announcement referred to the same plans announced under the Biden administration, John Deere said some of the company's plans had been disclosed earlier by officials.
So it's not immediately clear whether this was already planned or scheduled, whether it was planned and then put on the back burner and reannounced. Nevertheless, the facility, the $70 million investment, and the 150 full-time jobs will be coming to North Carolina. According to John Deere officials, these investments further demonstrate our commitment to investing $20 billion in U.S. manufacturing over the next 10 years, and it is a testament to our confidence in the future of U.S. manufacturing.
and our unwavered commitment to innovation, quality, and economic growth. Back in August of last year, John Deere reported that its net income was down some 29% from a year earlier. This was due to the impact of tariffs. The company reported $300 million worth of tariff-related costs and expected another $300 million by the end of 2025. John Deere Worldwide Construction and Forestry Power System President Ryan Campbell said in the press release, we are excited to bring this new facility to the Kernersville campus and for it to be part of the region's thriving manufacturing community.
Our focus will be on driving excellence, creating jobs, and advancing the legacy of John Deere in American manufacturing. This John Deere plant, both of them actually plan to be open throughout portions of 2027.
So, actually, in the grand scheme of things, a relatively short timeframe and turnaround for this major facility announced by John Deere and the Trump administration on Wednesday. We've got some additional coverage of that, including some of our recent stories about John Deere, including some of their economic issues that we talked about last year as well. All of those details this morning over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. The headline story there: Trump announces John Deere facility coming to North Carolina. Turning our attention this morning to the potential for some winter weather.
According to the latest information from the National Weather Service, winter storm watches are now up for the entirety of North Carolina, from the Tennessee mountains to the East Coast, Virginia to South Carolina border. The state is blanketed with those advisories as the threat and risk of winter weather continues to unfold across the state of North Carolina. This would be the second weekend in a row that we are looking at some winter weather.
However, making the situation significantly different from what we saw less than one week ago. The conditions are expected to be snow across the state. The risk of ice, the possibility of freezing rain and sleep looks very, very low. The only possibility for some of that to take place is in the most coastal communities, people literally living on the water here in the eastern half of North Carolina. The snow odds do look like they are rising.
Both of the major and main computer models, both the European and the U.S. forecast system, have both honed in on the possibility and the potential of this storm. What remains unknown as it stands right now is exactly what those snowfall totals will look like. Like, but the minimum of at least a couple of inches seems highly plausible across the vast majority of North Carolina. We are, as you would imagine, expecting some additional details in the coming days from state officials.
We saw a lot of press conferences and updates from Governor Josh Stein, DOT crews, and other state officials in the lead up to the potential of a major ice storm across North Carolina last weekend. And I think it is safe to say we would expect the same from Governor Stein and other statewide officials as we look at some of this additional winter precipitation, looking at mostly snow. This is a time frame from Friday night to Sunday morning. As we saw last weekend, the storm system moving west to east.
So if you're out in the mountains and in central North Carolina, that's where the snow will start first as you head east. Those timelines that will be a little bit later into portions of Sunday. We'll keep an eye on it right here on the Carolina Journal. News Hour and of course continued coverage throughout the rest of this week right here on Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 FM WBT. It's 535.
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour. Good Thursday morning to you, Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 FM WBT. We have spent a lot of time and will continue spending a lot of time throughout the year talking about the 250th anniversary of American independence. As the Freedom 250 tour continues across the United States, a Freedom truck has made its first stop in North Carolina, kicking off what is a nationwide tour of what organizers call the largest traveling exhibit ever focused on America's founding. This is being inspired by the 1976 Freedom Train.
The project is part of a broader slate of patriotic initiatives tied to President Donald Trump's executive order marking the nation's upcoming 250th anniversary. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy led the recent event that took place in Greensboro, North Carolina, saying, we have bumps in our roads, maybe potholes, if you want to use a DOT analogy, in the history of America. As Duffy commented at the Revolution Academy Charter School in the town of Somerville, he said, we should acknowledge those potholes of history, and we should recognize that our country strove to get through those difficult times and make it better and brighter for everybody. But we have people who want us to just focus on the negative.
This is a time to focus on the true and accurate history of America. Duffy said that one of the exhibits. That one of the exhibits displays that caught his eye was the Wall of Heroes that allowed visitors to discover biographical details about individuals whose contributions in various fields helped put America on the map. With the Transportation Secretary saying, it is a montage of great Americans. And when you look at America, you look at its innovators, its artists, its poets, its creators, what it's offered to the world, it's like nothing else across the world.
And those walls of heroes exist because of the freedom that this country has. It's the free enterprise that this country offers its people that has created the most remarkable men and women that are in the wall of heroes in this rolling museum. In addition to Duffy, a former congresswoman and Fox News host was also at the event, including representatives from the White House, Labor Department, as well as several private organizations that had partnered with the America 250. Initiative to create six freedom trucks that are touring communities across the United States. Deputy Labor Secretary Keith Sounding told the audience: I really hope you remember this day for the rest of your life.
It is very special because it represents a culmination of hard work, organization, and imagination to make this truck a reality. Two other universities, or two other individuals, I should say, groups, Prager University and Hillsdale College, partnered with the Education Department to supply the content for the various interactive exhibits. That are throughout the Freedom Trucks and also had representatives on hand in North Carolina. There were also NASCAR officials on there as well, as well as a company called Siebco, S-P-E-V-C-O, a specialty vehicle company, which is actually headquartered in North Carolina, just west of Winston-Salem, who is actually responsible for providing the vehicles themselves. A White House senior policy advisor for the Freedom 250 project said they are a double-wide 18-wheeler designed to bring the remarkable story of American independence to students, families, and citizens in every corner of our country.
Baldwin and others noted the idea of the Freedom Truck were based in part of the Freedom Train, which focused on events that took place back in 1976 during the bicentennial celebration here in the United States. With Baldwin saying, Each of us in our communities and our own circle of friends, family members, churchgoers, and fellow workers can think about how we rekindle the fire of liberty to spark a flame in the hearts of students like those beautiful students here today to inspire them to think. 15 years from now, to look back at this anniversary and think that was a moment I was proud to be an American. Revolution Academy students, the charter school in North Carolina, where the freedom truck stopped, students and parents, employees, and media outlets were all at the event that took place last week here in North Carolina. The school incentivized student participation by offering special passes to those who toured the exhibit that would allow them perks such as a day to dress out of uniform.
Yet, the visit also helped to reinforce some of the material that they have continued to cover in class. With one of the students that attends the Revolution School, telling CarolinaJournal.com, we are taking civics right now, so we've been learning about how America came to be and the Constitution and stuff like that. A freshman student and ambassador at the school also told Carolina Journal that the Freedom Truck launch gave me a different. Thought on how I see America and inspired him to deepen his understanding of U.S. history.
His mother, who was also on attendance for the event, noted that while the school had taken a field trip to Washington, D.C. last year, the mobile museum would afford the same or similar opportunities to students in communities further away from the U.S. Capitol, where access to some of that cultural enrichment might be a little bit more difficult. David Machado, who is the executive director of the North Carolina Coalition for Charter Schools, said that hosting Sean Duffy and other state officials was undoubtedly the biggest event to date for the Revolution Academy, which opened its doors only back in 2020 with around 300 students. It has now expanded to more than 1,000, telling the Carolina Journal, I'm sure a lot of other charter schools in our state are very jealous right now.
He added that America 250's decision to launch the mobile museum. Museum initiative at a charter school seemed like a logical fit, saying people that are part of the school choice movement tend to be very patriotic, tend to be very involved in their families' education.
So, to me, this is a great collaboration between the schools and this freedom truck. We've got some pictures from the event, plus additional quotes from officials, including Sean Duffy, other White House officials, and more. All of those details available over on our website this morning. CarolinaJournal.com, the headline there: Trump administration launches nationwide freedom truck at North Carolina Charter School. Recapping some statewide news this morning, North Carolina continues to see a boom in population growth across the United States.
From July 1st, 2024 to July 1st, 2025, North Carolina added 145,000 new residents across the state, bringing the state's population up to 11.2 million with a growth rate of 1.3%. The state of North Carolina trailed only two additional states as it related to population growth, Texas and Florida with major explosions in growth there, 391,000 individuals moving into Texas during that same calendar year, July 24 to July of 25, with Florida adding a similar amount of new residents to North Carolina, a little bit more there, 197,000 for Florida. The state of North Carolina has continued to see major amounts of growth across the state. state. It has been one of the highest states for move-in in terms of percentage across the United States of America.
There was a little bit of a dip as you would imagine like we saw in all states back in the immediate during the immediacy of COVID-19.
However, as we headed into the latter parts of 2020, early parts of 2021, mass migration across the United States began with people moving out of states with heavy COVID-19 restrictions, moving to places like North and South Carolina, Florida, Texas, and other states throughout the south and southeastern portion of the United States. One interesting thing to note across this report and these numbers from the United States Census Bureau, even with this record growth in North Carolina, international migration has declined steeply. According to those state officials, across the country, international migration declined over half from where it was. was previously at 2.7 million to just 1.3 million in this newest report from the United States Census Bureau. With this, we are expecting more details from the Census Bureau in the month of March as it relates to data as it relates to specific North Carolina cities like Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham, Asheville, Wilmington, some of those other larger cities across North Carolina.
We'll be awaiting those details from the Census Bureau. You can read some additional coverage of that story this morning over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. The headline story there: North Carolina ranks among the top three states in population growth. Let's go! You're still grooving, still connecting, still loving, still turning up, still thriving.
You still got it. But your immune system, it weakens as you age. That's where vaccines come in. They help train and strengthen your immune response to fight off respiratory illnesses like flu, pneumococcal pneumonia, RSV, or COVID-19. Ask your doctor or pharmacist which vaccines you need.
Book in minutes at vaxassist.com. Sponsored by Pfizer. It's 5:52. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour on Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 FM, WBT, the John Locke Foundation's Carolina Liberty Conference is coming up February the 27th through 28th in Raleigh. The event brings together policymakers, scholars, community leaders, and citizens from across the state of North Carolina to explore the challenges and opportunities of advancing freedom in today's political and cultural climate.
The 2026 Carolina Liberty Conference, again, is happening February the 27th and 28th at the Starview Hotel in Raleigh. This year's event, we will be celebrating the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution with guest speakers like Chief Justice Paul Newby. He's the head of the North Carolina Supreme Court, State Auditor Dave Bollock, and more. Register for the 2026 Carolina Liberty Conference today. At johnlock.org.
That's j-o-h-n-l-o-c-k-e.org. Myself and many of the great guests you're here here on the Carolina Journal News Hour will all be in attendance. We look forward to seeing you February the 27th and 28th. In some statewide news this morning, the Trump administration, alongside a bipartisan group of governors, that includes North Carolina Governor Josh Stein, are pressuring the nation's largest regional electrical grid operator to rein in on rising electricity costs. The coalition is urging the PJM IntraConnect, which serves states like Virginia, Tennessee, Ohio, and portions of northern North Carolina, to lower prices as demands surge, particularly from AI data centers.
Governor Stein said in a recent press release, I am committed to keeping electricity costs as low as possible for families. That means making sure data centers pay their fair share for the electricity they require to be generated. I applaud the U.S. Department of Energy for this initiative and remain committed to making life as affordable as possible for North Carolinians. John Sanders, who is the director for the Center for Food, Power, and Life at the John Locke Foundation, told the Carolina Journal, data centers and their power needs are a real problem for electricity grids and electricity consumers in the short term.
While the centers will pay for electricity that they consume, their very presence is necessary for building more power plants. With those, the expenses get appropriated out to other consumer bills as well. And that is the problem that the governors and the Trump administration are trying to address. With the PMJ IntraConnect. At the twenty twenty soreic forum in Davos a couple of weeks ago, President Donald Trump outlined plans for him and his administration To cut red tape and let data center companies build their own capacity, saying in part, building these massive buildings for their own electrical capacity.
The president said they're building their own power plants, which when added up is more than any other country. Sanders echoed the statements from the president, highlighting the importance of reducing red tape and regulation, saying that if the facilities are able to build their own power generation, that would be the best solution for consumers. Unfortunately, permitting delays make it difficult to get power plants built quickly and add to their expense. Plus, natural gas supplies that could help data centers power themselves have been constrained in areas like the Mid-Atlantic as it relates to pipeline permitting delays, denials, lawsuits, and other political obstructions. This is continuing to be a major story across the United States and here in North Carolina.
It was back in June of last year that Amazon announced that it plans to invest some $10 billion to launch a new high-tech cloud computing and AI plant in Richmond County, North Carolina. With this, recent analysis from Bloomberg shows that wholesale electricity prices in many parts of the United States have surged dramatically since 2020, with some areas near large AI data center hubs seeing costs rise as much as 267% compared to where some of those numbers were just five years ago. The report tracked electricity prices at thousands of grid nodes and found that price increases are Much more concentrated near regions with heavy data center activity, suggesting a strong connection between rapid data center growth and local electricity cost pressures. More than 70% of the locations with rising prices are within roughly 50 miles of major data centers. Here in North Carolina, the legislature recently passed Senate Bill 266.
That was the Power Bill Reduction Act. It was vetoed by Governor Josh Stein, overrode by the General Assembly. With that measures expected to save North Carolinians up to $15 billion worth of future electricity and utility costs. You can read some additional coverage of this story this morning. We've got some links to studies and more.
All of that available over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. The story headline there: bipartisan state federal pressures on grid operators to lower costs. That's going to do it for a Thursday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour, WBT News is Next, followed by Good Morning BT. We're back with you tomorrow morning, 5 to 6, right here on Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM, WBT. You're still grooving, still connecting, still loving, still turning up, still thriving.
You still got it, but your immune system, it weakens as you age. That's where vaccines come in. They help train and strengthen your immune response to fight off respiratory illnesses like flu, pneumococcal pneumonia, RSV, or COVID-19. Ask your doctor or pharmacist which vaccines you need. Book in minutes at vaxassist.com.
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