New Jersey regulators have ordered the operator of one of the East Coast’s largest planned data centers to pay a $1.1 million fine for secretly installing and operating gas generators in violation of the state’s Air Pollution Control Act.
What Happened
DataOne, the operator behind the facility, was penalized after an investigation by The Guardian and Floodlight News released thermal drone footage in August. The footage revealed that 45 of the 62 gas generators at the site were actively operating. According to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), none of these generators held the permits required for units with a capacity of 37 kilowatts or higher. Instead, the generators were running at 1,982-kilowatt capacities, which is more than 50 times higher than the state limit for unpermitted units.
Why It Matters
The incident highlights the regulatory scrutiny facing the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure and data centers. States track gas generators because they emit carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and other combustion-related pollutants. Officials from the NJ DEP noted that these emissions can worsen asthma, trigger heart attacks, and cause early deaths. This case serves as a significant precedent for how local authorities may enforce environmental compliance against large-scale compute buildouts that rely on backup power generation.
The Bottom Line
DataOne faces a $1.1 million penalty for operating high-capacity gas generators without the necessary permits, following drone evidence that exposed the scale of unpermitted emissions at the site.