I vigorously oppose the plan to enable data centers to use emergency diesel generators as backup power  for planned outage events. As someone who has invested in solar panels and batteries to handle unplanned outages for my residence, I find it amazing that large companies with deep pockets would not be able plan to bring in  the right equipment for planned outages and instead rely on the same dirty polluting engines used in the event of an emergency.

Data centers are fast becoming the coal fired power plants of the 21st century with their refusal to use cleaner electricity for their needs. The goal of the DEQ is to protect the health and environmental well-being of all Virginians - giving data centers a "get out of jail free" card through this measure will be a complete abdication of your responsibility. No amount of money can compensate for children who have to grow up next to data centers that are spewing soot and other pollutants when running diesel generators; however, the DEQ should look into charging data centers a premium for dirty power generation during planned outage, and publish stats on which data centers have been the most polluting in the commonwealth.