Data center backup power contributes to health risks: report — SkimNews
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- Environmental Protection Network report finds data center air pollution could add nearly $21 billion in healthcare costs by 2028, contributing to roughly 600,000 asthma cases and 1,300 premature deaths
- Much of the health risk stems from federal regulatory changes expanding coal use and keeping combustion-based power plants online to meet data center energy demand, per EPN
- In Virginia, on-site generators emitting just 10% of permitted levels would contribute to roughly 14,000 asthma symptom cases, 13 to 19 premature deaths, and $220 million to $300 million in annual public-health costs
- An EPA rule finalized earlier this year created a category of small and medium temporary turbines that can remain on site for up to two years with reduced monitoring, resulting in 89% more nitrogen oxide expected annually than under the scrapped 2024 version
- A Department of Energy emergency order in May authorized PJM Interconnection to use backup generation at data centers during a heat wave, when utilities in its jurisdiction were conducting planned maintenance outages
- The report highlights the xAI lawsuit in Southaven, Mississippi over whether the data center received appropriate permits for temporary/mobile on-site turbines used as backup power
- EPN lists 30 federal regulatory actions it says risk increasing pollution from data centers, many easing rules on utilities and some easing rules on non-utility power plants
Why it matters: Communities near data centers, particularly in Virginia, face escalating respiratory health burdens as federal rules weaken oversight of backup generators and utility emissions. The $21 billion projected healthcare cost figure quantifies the public-health trade-off of accommodating AI infrastructure demand through regulatory rollback.
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