Gas plants for US data centers to be major source of climate change-linked emissions, report says
Source: Reuters
Dozens of planned gas plants to directly power data centers in the United States could emit as much greenhouse gas annually as Australia or France, according to a report by an environmental group published on Wednesday.
The Environmental Integrity Project reviewed 74 gas-fired U.S. power plant projects proposed or planned to provide electricity directly to data centers, which would sidestep the process to connect to the U.S. electric grid. It estimated that they would generate 143 gigawatts of electricity and result in 662 million tons per year of greenhouse gas emissions.
Off-grid, or "behind the meter" power projects are winning rapid approval across the U.S., often under cover of secrecy, to supply the tech industry’s booming demand for powering data centers, 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 such off-grid plants for private customers are exempt from many of these rules.
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Read more: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/gas-plants-us-data-centers-be-major-source-climate-change-linked-emissions-2026-07-01/
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