DEQ Asked a Compliance Question. The PEC Report Asked a Health Question.
WARRENTON, Va. (April 29, 2026) – The Piedmont Environmental Council recently commissioned a study, conducted by EmPower Analytics Group, evaluating the public health and economic impacts of Virginia’s first data center running on onsite power generation. DEQ has just released its own report challenging our findings. While we are encouraged that DEQ is finally taking the impacts of data centers on air quality seriously, there are fundamental differences between the two reports that require clarification to ensure public understanding.
DEQ Asked a Compliance Question. The PEC Report Asked a Health Question.
DEQ’s report evaluates whether the facility complies with regulatory standards and what type of permit is needed. The EmPower Analytics Group/PEC report evaluates what those permitted emissions mean for population health and estimates the scale of public health impact from the use of onsite gas turbines for power — which regulatory permitting models are not designed to estimate.
The tools EmPower Analytics used estimated population-level exposure and health effects under permitted emissions over time, which was the purpose of our report. Given the increase in DEQ minor permit applications by data center developers wanting to build onsite power generation to bypass the long grid connection process, our study examines and predicts the potential public health effects of that generation proactively, which is relevant in the current landscape.
Permitting Decisions Must Include Public Input and Emissions Dispersion Modeling
As additional data centers request permits for onsite generation using natural gas turbines, the local and regional air quality impacts add up and lead to significant deterioration of air quality and associated public health impacts. Our concern is that if this trend is allowed to continue without any public input, robust dispersion modeling of emissions, or consideration of cumulative impacts or proximity of nearby homes and schools, there will be a degradation in air quality. The air quality improvements over the last two decades stemming from hard fought battles for stronger emission controls on vehicles and power plants could be lost to this loosely regulated industry’s increased use of onsite power.
DEQ is Implementing Air Monitoring
Despite its take on our study, we are glad to see that DEQ is, at last, taking steps to actively measure and study the impacts of data center emissions on air quality, by setting up more air quality monitors and a new webpage, Data Center Air Monitoring Project. These are both much-needed sources of important public information that will complement DEQ’s existing Issued Air Permits for Data Centers webpage.
Every New Natural Gas Power Plant Must Be Reviewed as a New Major Source
“Public health, particularly air quality, should not be put at risk because of rushed decisions to approve and build hundreds of data centers. Dominion Energy, NOVEC and other utilities have created a ‘crisis by contract’ by agreeing to provide power, transmission and generation they don’t have. Now with 5-10-year delays in grid development, data centers are trying to break the system by building their own natural gas power plants and asking that they be considered minor sources without comprehensive permit review or public comment. PEC believes each of these proposals should be reviewed as if they are major new sources, with a full review of potential local and regional impacts,“ said Chris Miller, president of The Piedmont Environmental Council.
Media Contact: Mike Doble, The Piedmont Environmental Council
[email protected]; 703-579-7963
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