Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
Agency
Department of Environmental Quality
 
Board
Air Pollution Control Board
 
Guidance Document Change: DEQ Guidance Memo APG-578 addresses the use of emergency generators in the case of “sudden and reasonably unforeseeable events” as the result of a planned electric outage.
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11/24/25  11:59 pm
Commenter: Rudie Verougstraete, Sunrise Movement

NO on expanding diesel generator use at data centers
 

It makes no sense, in light of how badly the U.S. is missing its emissions reductions targets, to weaken regulations on diesel generators at data centers, allowing them to run more frequently and longer. We should be moving in the other direction, reducing the use of gasoline and diesel, imposing a moratorium on data center construction altogether, and accelerating our use of renewable energy. Allowing these diesel generators more leeway in how often they run and for how long, will lead to increases in emissions of pollutants that will harm the health of nearby residents as well as contribute to the atmospheric warming that is a major driving force behind worsening natural disasters, like what we just saw unfold in Jamaica with Hurricane Mellissa. I would remind DEQ of their mission statement, which is to protect public health and the environment.

CommentID: 238013