North Carolina regulators have approved two air quality permits allowing Amazon and Duke Energy to operate a combined 649 diesel generators at a massive data center campus under construction near Hamlet.
The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality says the permits cap annual emissions and meet all applicable air quality standards. But the agency also acknowledged limits on what it could consider, including the project’s location and the combined emissions from the two sets of generators.
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“While the Division of Air Quality’s statutory authority is limited in the review of these projects, protecting air quality remains paramount for this department,” DEQ Secretary Reid Wilson said.
Amazon’s permit covers 592 emergency generators, including 588 critical backup generators and four ancillary generators. Duke Energy received a separate permit for 57 temporary generators that will provide electricity until the data center is connected to the power grid.
The permits drew significant opposition from residents and environmental groups concerned about adding diesel pollution to a predominantly low-wealth community already surrounded by industrial facilities. Nearly 200 people attended a public hearing in Rockingham in July.
DEQ said its authority was limited to determining whether each application complied with existing state and federal air quality rules. The agency cannot use the air permitting process to regulate where the data center is built, how it receives electricity or how local land is used.
The agency also did not require modeling of the combined emissions from the Amazon and Duke generators.
“Our rules do not require, and neither facility submitted, cumulative modeling that analyzed the combined emission profile of both facilities,” DEQ spokesperson Shawn Taylor said.
DEQ reviewed each project separately using worst-case operating scenarios and determined emissions would remain within applicable limits. The agency said it also evaluated potential uncontrolled emissions of acrolein, a toxic air pollutant, from Amazon’s generators and found they were not expected to exceed state health-based levels.
DEQ relied on companies’ statement about control
The Southern Environmental Law Center contends the 649 generators should have been treated as a single pollution source because they are located on the same property and will serve the same Amazon data center. The organization says issuing separate permits allowed the companies to avoid a combined Clean Air Act review.
DEQ determined the projects did not meet the criteria to be considered a single source because Amazon and Duke are not under common ownership or control.
Regulators relied on the applicants’ statement that Duke would control its 57 generators.
“The applicants attested that Duke Energy will exercise control over the bridge power generators,” Taylor said. “This attestation was sufficient for our determination.”
DEQ said it reserves the right to take further action if information submitted with the permit applications is later found to be inaccurate.
The agency also said treating the projects as one source would not necessarily have required stronger pollution controls.
“It is unlikely that rules would have required more stringent emissions control technology on the engines than what the permits currently require, regardless of how they were permitted,” Taylor said.
Generators could occasionally run together
Under normal operations, Duke’s generators and Amazon’s backup generators are not expected to run simultaneously. DEQ said both sets could operate at the same time during limited periods of testing, maintenance and activation.
Duke’s generators may operate for less than one year after they begin providing power. The final permit requires the electricity to be used exclusively for Amazon’s data center and adds initial emissions testing requirements.
Once the campus is connected to the grid, Amazon’s generators would operate primarily during power outages and for limited testing and maintenance.
The final permits also clarify Amazon’s fuel-use monitoring requirements and require both companies to maintain additional records and submit reports to the state.
Environmental groups remain concerned
Diesel exhaust contains fine particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, benzene and other pollutants linked to respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses. The Environmental Protection Agency classifies long-term exposure to diesel exhaust as likely to cause cancer in humans.
Environmental groups say those risks are especially concerning because the site is near Duke Energy’s Smith Energy Complex, an Enviva wood pellet mill and other industrial facilities.
“The decision to give Duke Energy and Amazon a green light to install hundreds of diesel generators for a hyperscale data center project is disappointing and will cause harm to the neighboring communities,” said Luna Homsi, energy policy manager for the N.C. Conservation Network.
Homsi called on Amazon to use cleaner alternatives to diesel power.
Amazon says it is committed to meeting or exceeding environmental and public health requirements.
“We’re committed to building responsibly and being a good neighbor in Richmond County,” an Amazon spokesperson said. “We’ve been working closely with the North Carolina Division of Air Quality to ensure we meet or exceed all applicable environmental and public health standards.”
The company said it requested the public hearing and pointed to $200,000 in community grants, a partnership with the Hamlet Fire Department and workforce development programs with Richmond Community College.
Amazon’s planned $10 billion campus is expected to include 21 buildings of about 200,000 square feet each across nearly 800 acres. Once fully operational, the facility is expected to become Duke Energy’s largest customer.