Federal regulatory changes impacting enforcement of on-site backup generator emissions are contributing to increased data center health risks, a report says.
Air pollution from data centers could increase healthcare costs by almost $21 billion by 2028, contributing to roughly 600,000 asthma cases and 1,300 premature deaths, says the Environmental Protection Network, a nonprofit whose members are former public officials who maintain an interest in environmental policy.
Much of the health risk is from federal regulatory changes made to help utilities meet data center energy demand, like expanding the use of coal and keeping coal and other combustion-based power plants online rather than phasing them out. But a portion of the risk is from regulatory changes that pave the way for data centers to maintain on-site backup power, EPN says in its Hidden Health Costs of AI Data Centers report.
“These engines and turbines can emit nitrogen oxides, smog-forming volatile organic compounds, and soot pollution,” the report says. “The combined generating capacity of a large generator or turbine fleet can rival that of a conventional power plant.”
In Virginia, the emissions from on-site generators emitting just 10% of the levels allowed under their air permits will contribute to some 14,000 asthma symptom cases, 13 to 19 premature deaths and $220 million to $300 million in annual public-health costs, says the report, drawing on estimates released earlier this year by researchers.
Several regulatory actions are helping to fuel risks from on-site generation, the report says:
Temporary turbine category. A rule the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized earlier this year created a category of small and medium temporary turbines that can remain on site for up to two years with substantially reduced monitoring, recordkeeping and reporting requirements. “Those requirements matter not only for estimating pollution, but for determining whether equipment is operating as permitted and whether pollution limits are being met,” the report says. As a result of the rule, 89% more nitrogen oxide is expected to be released into the air annually than would have been the case under a more restrictive 2024 version of the rule that the Trump administration scrapped, the report says.
The report points to the high-profile lawsuit that was filed against xAI for its data center in Southaven, Mississippi. The dispute is over whether it received appropriate permits for its use of temporary or mobile on-site turbines to generate backup power. “The company and Mississippi regulators dispute that a permit was required,” the report says. “The dispute illustrates why clear permitting requirements and consistent enforcement become more important as equipment labeled ‘backup, ‘temporary,’ or ‘mobile’ is used more extensively to supply power.”
Demand-response participation. An interpretive letter EPA released last year lets operators of on-site emergency backup generation use their generators to participate in utility demand-response programs. The report doesn’t mention that the letter is limited to on-site generators that operate within the jurisdiction of a local balancing authority. It “does not extend to Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) or Independent System Operators (ISOs),” an analysis by standby power compliance company BackupPower AI says.
Emergency generation. In another action that lets operators use their on-site generation at certain times, the U.S. Department of Energy earlier this year issued an emergency order authorizing the PJM Interconnection to use backup generation at data centers and other major facilities to help it manage demand. The order was issued in May, when parts of the Northeast and Midwest were going through a hot spell at the same time that many utilities within PJM’s jurisdiction were preparing planned outages for annual maintenance. “Their use during heat waves and other periods of grid stress adds smog-forming nitrogen oxides and fine-particle soot pollution at times when extreme heat and existing air pollution already place people at greater risk,” the report says.
The report lists 30 federal regulatory actions in all that it says risk increasing pollution from data centers, many of them easing rules on utilities and some easing rules on non-utility power plants — such as a rule exempting private power facilities from acid rain program permits, emissions requirements and standardized reporting requirements.
“Before 2025, stronger pollution safeguards, planned fossil-plant retirements, and expanding cleaner power were on track to constrain additional pollution from rising demand,” the report says. “Current federal policies are making it easier to keep more-polluting sources of power online or add new ones while weakening many safeguards.”
