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A report from the Environmental Protection Network says federal regulatory changes could increase pollution from data centers and other power sources, including on-site backup generators. It estimates data center air pollution could bring nearly $21 billion in health care costs by 2028, but that estimate covers several sources of pollution and is not attributed to backup generators alone.
The Environmental Protection Network says federal regulatory changes could increase health risks from pollution associated with data centers, including emissions from on-site backup generators. Its report estimates that data center air pollution could contribute to almost $21 billion in health care costs by 2028, alongside roughly 600,000 asthma cases and 1,300 premature deaths; those figures cover data center pollution broadly, not generators alone.
The report, titled Hidden Health Costs of AI Data Centers, identifies 30 federal regulatory actions that it says risk increasing pollution. Many concern how utilities meet rising electricity demand, including policies that could keep coal and other combustion-based power plants operating. The group says a portion of the projected risk also comes from changes affecting generation located at data centers.
One EPA rule finalized this year created a category for small and medium temporary turbines that can remain on site for up to two years. The report says the category has substantially reduced monitoring, recordkeeping and reporting requirements. It estimates the rule will result in 89% more nitrogen oxide emissions annually than a more restrictive 2024 version that the Trump administration scrapped. That figure is a comparison with that earlier rule, not a measurement of all generator emissions.
The report also cites an EPA interpretive letter allowing some on-site emergency generators to participate in utility demand-response programs, and a Department of Energy emergency order issued in May authorizing PJM Interconnection to use backup generation at data centers and other major facilities to help manage demand. The EPA letter has a defined scope: an analysis by standby-power compliance company BackupPower AI says it applies to generators within a local balancing authority and does not extend to regional transmission organizations or independent system operators.
Pollution Risks During Grid Stress
Backup generators can help facilities keep operating during outages and can be used under certain programs to support the grid. But when they run, the report says, their nitrogen oxides, smog-forming volatile organic compounds and soot can add to local air pollution. The report argues that looser monitoring and broader use make it harder to track emissions and check whether equipment is operating within permit limits.
Timing matters as well as total emissions. The EPN says generator use during heat waves and periods of grid stress can add pollution when high temperatures and existing air pollution already pose health risks. Its wider estimates connect data center-related air pollution with asthma cases, premature deaths and health care costs, but they do not isolate the contribution from backup units. Readers should treat them as projections in an advocacy group’s report, not as counts of harm already measured.
The report offers a Virginia example based on estimates released earlier this year by researchers. It says on-site generators emitting at 10% of the levels allowed by their air permits could contribute to about 14,000 asthma symptom cases, 13 to 19 premature deaths and $220 million to $300 million in annual public-health costs. Those are modeled estimates for Virginia under the stated emissions assumption, rather than observed outcomes or a national forecast for generators.
Rules Affecting On-Site Power
The report situates generator policy within the wider growth in electricity demand from data centers. It says federal actions affecting utilities and private power plants may shape whether that demand is met by existing fossil-fuel facilities, new generation or cleaner sources. The report’s focus is the potential health cost of emissions linked to that supply, rather than a claim that every data center or generator has the same emissions profile.
It also points to a dispute over temporary or mobile turbines at xAI’s data center in Southaven, Mississippi. The report says a lawsuit concerns whether the turbines needed permits. xAI and Mississippi regulators dispute that a permit was required, according to the report. The case illustrates a live question about how equipment described as backup, temporary or mobile is regulated when used to supply power.
EPA’s turbine category, its interpretive letter on demand response, and DOE’s May order for PJM address different circumstances. They should not be read as one blanket authorization for all data center generators. The report says the turbine rule reduces specific monitoring and reporting requirements; the interpretive letter concerns participation in certain demand-response programs; and the DOE order was an emergency measure for PJM. The source material does not establish that these actions apply uniformly across the country or to every generator.
“These engines and turbines can emit nitrogen oxides, smog-forming volatile organic compounds, and soot pollution.”
— Environmental Protection Network report
Scope of the Health Estimates
The estimates are projections attributed to the Environmental Protection Network and, for the Virginia example, to researchers’ earlier estimates. The available reporting does not provide a generator-only share of the nearly $21 billion in projected health care costs, the national asthma cases or the premature deaths. It also does not establish that those outcomes have occurred.
Details about actual operation and emissions at individual data centers remain limited in the source material. The dispute over permits for turbines at the Southaven facility remains contested, and the report does not resolve how regulators or courts will decide it. It is also unclear from the material how much on-site generation will be used under demand-response programs or the PJM emergency order, or what emissions will result.
Permits and Generator Use Ahead
The next developments to watch are enforcement of the EPA turbine rule, decisions on permits for temporary or mobile generators, and any further use of on-site units under grid programs. The Southaven dispute may clarify how the parties interpret permitting obligations for that equipment, but the source material gives no timetable or outcome.
For a clearer picture of health effects, readers would need later reporting on generator operating hours, measured emissions, permit compliance and the methods behind the health estimates. The EPN report calls for stronger safeguards; the material available here does not indicate whether federal agencies plan to revise the rules or how they will respond to its findings.
Key Questions
What did the report say about data center pollution?
The Environmental Protection Network says federal policy changes could increase pollution associated with data centers. Its report includes on-site generators among several sources and estimates nearly $21 billion in health care costs by 2028 from data center air pollution overall.
Does the $21 billion estimate apply only to backup generators?
No. The estimate covers data center air pollution broadly, including pollution linked to power supply. The reported material does not give a separate figure for backup generators.
What is the EPA temporary turbine rule?
The report says an EPA rule finalized this year created a category for small and medium temporary turbines that can stay on site for up to two years with substantially reduced monitoring, recordkeeping and reporting requirements.
Is the Southaven turbine permit dispute settled?
The report describes an ongoing dispute over whether xAI’s temporary or mobile turbines at its Southaven, Mississippi, data center required permits. It says the company and Mississippi regulators dispute that a permit was required; the available information does not give a resolution.
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