WASHINGTON – Dozens of planned gas plants to directly power data centres in the US could emit as much greenhouse gas annually as Australia or France, according to a report by an environmental group published on July 1.

The Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) reviewed 74 gas-fired US power plant projects proposed or planned to provide electricity directly to data centres, which would sidestep the process to connect to the US electric grid.

It estimated that they would generate 143 gigawatts of electricity and result in 662 million tonnes a year of greenhouse gas emissions.

Off-grid or “behind the meter” power projects are winning rapid approval across the US, often under cover of secrecy, to supply the tech industry’s booming demand for powering data centres, according to a Reuters review of regulatory filings and interviews with public officials, residents, researchers and company executives.

By avoiding the federal regulations facing these large projects that seek interconnection to the electric grid, these are moving ahead at light speed – sometimes in just weeks or months – without the years of permitting, environmental studies and public hearings typically required for such plants. Developers argue that such off-grid plants for private customers are exempt from many of these rules.

The EIP report said the cumulative scale of the greenhouse gas emissions from these plants rivals the emissions of major economies like France or Australia, and poses public health risks to those who reside near the projects because of their release of harmful pollutants like nitrous oxide and benzene.

“An industry of the future should not be chained to dirty fuels of the past and the air pollution from fossil fuels that cause real harm to communities,” said Jen Duggan, executive director of the EIP.

Nearly half of the 74 plants identified will be located in Texas, followed by gas-producing states Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, which respectively have 10, six and four off-grid plants planned.

Trump administration officials have continued to call for the rapid construction of data centres and taken steps to reduce barriers to building and powering them as a national security and economic imperative.

“I think that a lot of Americans would agree that we should win this race against China to be the AI capital of the world,” Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin told reporters on June 30.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll in June showed that only one in three Americans approve of the fast pace of data centre construction, an issue on the minds of voters and political campaigns ahead of the Nov 3 midterm elections. REUTERS

Gas plants for US data centres to be major source of climate emissions: Report