EPA: Off-grid data centers not subject to Acid Rain Program

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(The Center Square) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday it has determined that the power generation plants of data centers unconnected to the electric grid fall outside the scope of the Clean Air Act’s Acid Rain Program.

In a statement, the EPA said under the best reading of the Clean Air Act, the Acid Rain Program applies to power plants that either sell electricity or that are those required to report as a generating unit to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Because off-grid or “islanded” power generation units neither sell electricity nor have required reporting to the Energy Department, EPA concluded in the guidance on Monday that these facilities are not subject to the Acid Rain Program.

EPA Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation Aaron Szabo said the agency’s determination furthers President Donald Trump’s energy agenda.

“Ensuring that the United States maintains our artificial intelligence dominance is essential to national security and economic prosperity,” Szabo said. "At the same time, it is equally important that we safeguard our communities from utility price hikes. This guidance will provide an avenue to do both."

The guidance is intended to give data center developers greater flexibility in determining where and how quickly they can build new facilities while also helping to protect the environment and reducing burdens on the public electric grid, the EPA said.

The agency said the guidance supports the president’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge, which commits developers and hyperscalers to "build, bring, or buy" all the power generation resources required to run their data centers.

Aimed at bypassing an extensive wait to connect to the grid in west Tennessee, Elon Musk's xAI supercomputer cluster near Memphis deployed dozens of gas-fired turbines to power operations ahead of a permanent utility link. In April, environmental groups filed legal challenges claiming that xAI operated the gas turbines before securing the required local air permits.