Dear Coalition Friends and Supporters,
PJM gets green light to push data centers onto back-up power during heat wave | News From The States
“The order, signed by U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, allows PJM Interconnection to tap into diesel back-up generators, battery arrays and more as a “last resort” to prevent power shut-offs as temperatures climb to dangerous heights in the latter half of the week.”
“Currently, there are tens of gigawatts of readily available backup generation that have remained largely untapped,” Wright wrote in his order. “Deployment of backup generation resources … can prevent avoidable blackouts, thereby saving lives and reducing costs to the American people.”
The audacity to suggest that turning on DIESEL GENERATORS saves lives because DATA CENTERS take too much power is ludicrous.
We have said this before, and we will say it again, being grateful that data centers remove their load from the grid and rely on dirty diesel generators that pollute our air, is like thanking the arsonist for bringing you a bucket of water after they set your house on fire.
Emergency Procedures – Postings
Did YOU know:
“The most dangerous particulate matter emitted by diesel generators is diesel particulate matter (DPM), specifically the fine particles known as \(\text{PM}_{2.5}\) (particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter) and ultrafine particles.”
We are pointing this out because this week’s Washington Post article literally references it. This isn’t some hard-to-make connection. It is LITERALLY in this article:
Court rules against Trump administration on air pollution limits – The Washington Post
“Doctors told him his lung had collapsed. And they offered a stern warning: Be wary of tiny airborne pollutants, which can be especially harmful for people with asthma like him.”
“PM2.5, or particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less, is the nation’s deadliest air pollutant. It has been linked to lung damage and respiratory diseases, including lung cancer.”
So let’s go down memory lane to revisit when we realized 18th century power generation (Diesel) was going to fuel this supposed 21st moonshot technology.
Here is when we KNEW dirty diesel would be key player in energizing the data center build out:
February 26, 2023: Data Center Proliferation = Breathing Diesel Fumes – The Coalition to Protect Prince William County
https://youtu.be/lLiP7ePOa5I?si=idmCzG9KfcUJuDdq
AND of course, this independent air quality study out of our own Virginia Commonwealth University:
Data center air pollution research – VCU News – Virginia Commonwealth University
The data center boom is a diesel generator boom – Prometheus Institute
“In Virginia — the largest data center market globally, believed to host more than a third of all hyperscale data centers worldwide — there were over 10,500 generator units permitted for data centers by the end of 2025, with a total capacity of 27 GW. That’s equivalent to the power usage of roughly 20 million U.S. households, in a state with less than 4 million homes. Oregon, which has a rapidly growing data center market, has six GW of permitted and proposed diesel generators, double the combined average yearly power consumption of homes in the state.”
“While some companies position their generator use as only for emergencies like extended grid outages, the Better Data Center Project notes that operators have been increasingly relying on them. This is ostensibly because of the industry’s prioritization of speed to power over lower emissions.”
“For example, a data center will occasionally switch to diesel capacity to avoid minor grid disturbances, such as changes in voltage or frequency, which last seconds — but can lead to the data center remaining on generator power for hours. Or else they may use diesel generation to participate in demand response and other flexibility initiatives, which are becoming more popular as a way to avoid overstressing the grid. This occurred as recently as June 2025 in Virginia during a heatwave, when Tier 2 diesel generators were used for participation in demand response, according to the report.”
WE NEED YOUR HELP
It is critical that you know where the data centers are near YOU or near people you care about. Please open up this interactive map created by Piedmont Environmental Council Data Centers, Diesel Generators and Air Quality – PEC Web Map – The Piedmont Environmental Council
You, our residents on the ground, are the only eyes and ears (lungs and nose) that we have to identify which data centers could be running on dirty diesel generators, polluting our air. Virgina Department of Environmental Quality IS not going to be forewarning Virginians.
If you believe you know of a data center that has removed itself from the grid and is using diesel as their onsite generation, please report your location, data center campus name, and any associated documentation here:
Resident Report Form: Generators at Loudoun Data Centers – Intellistack
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