Setting engines on their foundations before the air permit is issued counts as construction, and in Georgia it has now cost two companies money. The state's Environmental Protection Division (EPD) fined VoltaGrid, which owns and runs a gas-fired power plant in Covington, Newton County, $11,500, and Serverfarm, which is building the neighboring data center, $31,000. The consent orders were published on 30 September and reported by Atlanta News First on 6 October and by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on 8 October.
What The Inspectors Found
EPD received a complaint on 25 June that engines were being installed before permits had been issued. Inspectors visited both sites on 29 June. At the power plant they found eight engines in various stages of installation, none of them connected to gas or to the electrical system. Next door, 37 diesel emergency generators were in a similar state, again not connected to fuel or power. Serverfarm received its construction and operation permit the same day.
Notices of violation followed on 2 July. VoltaGrid's included a stop-work order; at a second inspection on 22 July, construction had stopped with 11 engines on site. Both companies told regulators there had been a misunderstanding about what could be done before the permit. VoltaGrid said its units were built off-site and only assembled in Covington, and that it believed this was allowed as long as nothing was connected to fuel or power. Neither company admitted liability by signing the orders. The state rule in question requires a permit before construction of any facility that may emit air pollutants.
A Tighter Permit
For local campaigners the fine matters less than the revised permit. According to the AJC, it treats the power plant and the data center as one emission source instead of two smaller ones, which brings stricter limits. The plant has 33 gas-fired reciprocating engines, and VoltaGrid may run no more than 30 of them at the same time. Construction may continue under those conditions.
The case is not closed. The Georgia Public Service Commission is looking into whether a plant running around the clock for a single data center, outside the wider grid, is compatible with two state laws on generating and distributing electricity.
The Packaged Unit Trap
The argument VoltaGrid made is one we hear in other forms on many projects. A containerized genset or a skid-mounted engine arrives finished from the factory, so placing it on site feels like delivery, not construction. Regulators can see it differently, and Georgia now has two consent orders that say so.
With lead times for engines and gensets as long as they are, the pressure to set equipment early is understandable. But on data center sites the permit, not the delivery date, decides when the engines may be placed, and the permit conditions (unit count, simultaneous operation, emission limits) can still change between the draft and the final version. Hold the layout loosely until the permit is final.
Sources: Atlanta News First, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
