The 2025 Emerging Issues Forum: Future Forward Energy, will examine North Carolina’s energy landscape in the areas of energy affordability and workforce needs, as well as boosting the grid’s resiliency and reliability in the face of extreme weather. This forum is the first in a series of three Emerging Issues Forums examining our state’s infrastructure, followed by a 2026 forum on water and a 2027 forum on housing.
Why are we doing this? I’m glad you asked.
It’s no secret that North Carolina’s population is projected to climb in the coming decades. Will the increase be the same across the state and how will the influx impact the state’s current infrastructure? Let’s take a look.
After a quick stroll through projected population datasets from the North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management, I want to welcome you to the year 2050.
*Cue time travel music*
Since 2020, North Carolina’s population has increased by more than 32 percent and 14 million people now call the Old North State “home.” Now in 2050, we’ve either effectively prepared for – or we’re scrambling to address the needs of the 3.77 million more people who now require nutritious food and safe water, housing that’s affordable, access to innovative healthcare technology, manufacturing products, transportation, and more!
The increase won’t be even across the state. In fact, 25 of North Carolina’s 100 counties have lost population – all but eight in the east. Yet these counties are still home to more than 550,000 North Carolinians who need access to reliable, secure and affordable infrastructure.
Conversely, 75 of our 100 counties have seen growth. Mecklenburg County grew by 53 percent and Wake County grew by 64 percent, but those are far from the highest increases in the state. Iredell County grew by 76 percent, Moore by 79 percent, Union by 80 percent, Brunswick by 92 percent, and – drumroll please – Currituck County grew by 149 percent!
Not surprisingly, we’re also a more urban state. Seventy-five percent of the population lives in one of 28 counties classified as either suburban or urban, compared to 65 percent of the population living in one of 22 suburban or urban counties in 2020.
Okay, let’s head back to the present day.
If these projections are correct, what do they mean for the future of our energy, water, housing, broadband and other key infrastructure areas? How can we ensure that our infrastructure is reliable and affordable for everyone in our state, no matter where they live? As technologies change, how can we prepare our workforce for these infrastructure jobs? What can we start doing today to prepare for the future, so we aren’t scrambling later? Furthermore – in the wake of Hurricane Helene and other natural disasters that have caused extensive power outages to hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians this year – how can we ensure that our energy grid is resilient?
These are some of the many questions we’re asking through our 2025-2027 Emerging Issues Forum series: Future Forward Infrastructure. In addition to the main themes of energy, water and housing, this multi-year effort will also touch other important areas of infrastructure – such as broadband, transportation and more – in an effort to fully encapsulate what these population changes mean for the future of our state.
I hope you’ll join us as we plan this important series of forums. If you know of champions at the statewide, regional or local level who are working on innovative infrastructure topics and solutions, encourage them to reach out to IEI Policy and Program Manager Tarik Woods at tjwoods@ncsu.edu.
IEI also relies on sponsorship to support the Emerging Issues Forum. Learn more about the benefits of sponsoring the 2025 Future Forward Energy forum or the 2025-2027 Future Forward Infrastructure forum series. We look forward to partnering with you or your organizations!
Registration will open soon! To learn more about the forum and upcoming registration, visit go.ncsu.edu/2025forum.
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