'Worse than coal': Data centers raise new local concerns during heat…

Federal emergency orders during heat waves are now permitting data centres to run backup diesel generators to relieve grid strain, exposing local communities to unregulated pollution from generator fleets that exceed traditional power plant emissions controls. Northeast Pennsylvania municipalities are confronting a regulatory gap: data centre generators operate under laxer pollution rules than power plants, whilst emergency-triggered extended runtime could normalise continuous diesel operation in densely clustered developments. If you're siting data centres in the US Northeast, the regulatory floor just dropped: federal emergency orders now permit generators to run during peak demand, and local pollution rules don't apply. That means your permitting timeline compresses but your community opposition hardens—and the next heat wave could trigger even looser rules.