Power plants built for data centers spark transparency concerns
The rapid approval of gas-fired power plants to serve AI data centers across the U.S. is sparking concerns over transparency, environmental impact, and community notification. Projects are often fast-tracked with limited public oversight, leading to backlash from residents and environmental advocates. States like Ohio are enacting laws to accelerate approvals and shield project details from public scrutiny, while some plants, like those for SpaceX's xAI, are operating without required permits.
The rapid development of off-grid natural gas power plants to serve the burgeoning AI data center industry across the U.S. is raising significant concerns over transparency, accelerated permitting, and environmental impacts, according to a Reuters report published in Finance & Commerce.
These power projects are often approved in weeks or months, bypassing the lengthy permitting processes, environmental studies, and public hearings typically required for such facilities. Developers argue that off-grid plants for private customers are exempt from many regulations, leading to minimal public notice for residents who may be affected by issues like air quality.
Breanne Kidd, a resident of Middleton Township, Wood County, Ohio, expressed alarm over the construction of Meta's 800-acre Bowling Green data center and the adjacent Apollo Generating Station, a large natural gas plant built to power it, stating she was given no prior notice. Reuters' investigation revealed that developers often use non-disclosure agreements and shell companies, while local officials fast-track permits and redact public documents, contributing to a lack of transparency. Michael Cork, a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard University, called AI industry's off-the-grid natural-gas generation "one of the largest under-examined air-quality risks in the country."
Ohio has implemented laws to speed up AI power-project approvals, allowing some plants to gain approval in as little as 45 days without public hearings. State officials, including Gary Thompson of northwest Ohio's Regional Growth Partnership, champion data center development as an economic boon. However, these measures, coupled with new Ohio provisions shielding large projects like data centers from public records laws, are drawing criticism for undermining transparency and accountability. Similar issues were highlighted in Tennessee and Mississippi, where SpaceX's xAI facility reportedly operated gas turbines without permits, and in West Virginia, where lawmakers exempted data center microgrids from local zoning laws. Brian Rothenberg, a township trustee near Columbus, Ohio, is also seeking safety details about a proposed gas fuel-cell power plant for an Amazon Web Services data center, noting a pending legal challenge to its permit.