“Self-powered” data centers generate pollution, and fury.
When people like Josh Shapiro tell us the answer to electricity concerns are “self-powered” data centers with on-site power generation they mean endangering neighborhoods even more!
Politicians are promoting the idea of “self-powered” data center power plants with on-site power generation as The Solution to people’s complaints about electricity demands. This doesn’t solve that problem, because the fuel demand is still there, the fuel doesn’t just magically appear out of nowhere. But on top of that, it creates more problems, such as more direct exposure to air pollution and noise pollution.
My letter to reps:
All you have to do is look at what’s happening around self-powered data centers in other states like Elon Musk’s data centers in Memphis & Mississippi, and the recent Piedmont study on expected health effects of particulate emissions allowed at a Virginia data center, to know that self-powered data centers aren’t the answer. Nobody wants to live next to diesel generators, gas turbines, or experimental reactors. Self-powered data center power plants have everyone in the vicinity experience a wrecked quality of life & zeroed out property values because nobody will want to live there. Why do politicians think tanked health and being underwater on your mortgage, becoming a military target, being trapped and unable to move and made miserable, is a fair exchange to merely dampen your electric bill while the water bills still skyrocket and the water taps run dry? It doesn’t make sense. We already have a housing shortage, making whole neighborhoods and whole communities full of houses unlivable wastelands with houses underwater on their mortgages just because of data center pollution, simply doesn’t make sense.
Please feel free to copy or repurpose for your own letters to reps.
Elon Musk’s makeshift AI power plant generates sound and fury in Mississippi The 27 temporary gas turbines roar like jet engines day and night to power data centers, residents say. Feb. 26, 2026, 6:00 AM EST / Updated Feb. 26, 2026, 6:44 AM EST By Bracey Harris Without warning, the temporary turbines began running day and night, locals say, to power Musk’s AI ambitions. “I intended to die right here,” said Gossett, 76, who wonders how long he will have to put up with the noise and the air pollution. “Hell, I couldn’t give my house away with all this noise.”
Pivot To AI reported that data centers are considering literal jet turbines to self-power data centers on-site.
Let’s power AI with supersonic jet engine turbines! David Gerard 11 December 2025 Pivot To AI The jet engine turbines are not just pumping out noise and carbon dioxide and pollution. They’re only about 40% efficient. Boom says the Superpower turbine will be about the same, and it’s up to the customer to bring the turbine up to 60% efficiency. And to limit the pollution and noise. I’m sure the AI bros will get right on that.
And the air pollution alone is more than substantial, and substantiated.
The Piedmont Environmental Council - Press Release: New Study Finds On-Site Power at Virginia Data Center Could Result in $53 Million–$99 Million in Annual Health Damages Posted on March 4, 2026 by Cindy Sabato Analysis shows the health impacts of on-site fossil fuel power at one data center in densely populated Northern Virginia “When large data centers use fossil fuel turbines for power in populated areas, even modest increases in air pollution can have real health consequences,” said Dr. Michael Cork, founder of EmPower Analytics Group and a Harvard-affiliated health scientist. “Our analysis shows that emissions allowed under this facility’s permit could lead to up to $99 million a year in health-related damages.” The study, conducted by EmPower Analytics Group and commissioned by The Piedmont Environmental Council, evaluates the public-health and economic impacts of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions from Vantage’s permitted on-site power system, which includes eight natural gas turbines and 51 diesel generators. Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is widely recognized as one of the most harmful air pollutants to human health. Extensive scientific evidence shows that long-term exposure — including at levels below current federal standards — is associated with increased risks of heart disease, stroke, respiratory illness, asthma exacerbation, and premature death.
Another aspect of self-powered data centers is how the owners of these facilities can claim they are utilities and should get special privileges for that, even though they’re not providing any electricity to the community, and maybe not even connected to the grid. And they can also claim they’re “mission critical” for the military as David Tolson is the president and ceo of DBT-DATA used to excuse and hand wave away the corrupt secrecy around pushing through data center projects without the public and the impacted communities being informed, and hiding all that behind Nondisclosure Agreements that politicians sign to keep taxpayer funded ventures secret from the public funding them. When pressed by other panelists on the show, David Tolson struggled to define the term “mission critical”, but he finally made it sound like it was connected to military interests.
They don’t really want to talk about this a lot, because of course being a double concentrated war target is of course another reason people won’t want them in the community, especially in neighborhoods at just 2,000 foot setbacks from houses. (In some zoning meetings I’ve heard just 500ft setbacks being suggested.) But at the same time they want the excuse to use the government to lean on people and also soak up more corporate welfare taxpayer money, based on “national security interests”. Self-powered data centers as discreet double war targets was discussed on the 404 Media podcast, and in 2025 Eric Schmidt suggested bombing data centers was something bad guys will do, so people are thinking about it.
These data center developers often say to the communities they come into, “one way or another” they’re doing it, those were the words of a data center developer in Carbon County Pennsylvania. In Dickson City PA the town defended the community, but the decision will instead be decided in court with lawfare pushed by the data center developers.
Former Senator Kyrsten Sinema threatened a town meeting in Arizona with “federal preemption” and saying the data center development “will just occur and they will occur in the manner in which they want to occur” and when that comes, the town will “will no longer have that privilege” to say no.
It sounds like they’re saying they intend to force these projects through and basically ripping off anyone who refuses to engage in the wheeling dealing with all the players involved all who seem to be connected to Donald Trump and the tech industry and fossil fuel industry players and others.
It’s like these plans for an AI “Golden Dome” where some imagined AGI god is able to control all the defense and war activities autonomously, which explains why Pete Hegseth wants to be able to let the not ready for prime time AI try and do that on blind faith; because Anthropic sold it that way. Some people suspect the “Golden Dome” might already be underway to being built in a data center under what used to be the East Wing at the White House, (or under what some now call “The Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Ballroom”). That sounds bonkers because making the White House a double target does not seem strategically wise, but considering they’re pushing making data center power plants in one, consolidation, no matter how ill-advised, always seems to be pushed.
This industry has already many times tried to claim water usage was a trade secret in order to not divulge the water usage to the towns who eventually suffer under decimated water utility. So I worry that they will try to claim data centers are “mission critical” and that they’re military targets, and thus, all these companies have to get a taxpayer funded bailout which can turn all the billionaires into trillionaires, the way the 2008 financial crisis created billionaires, and it will be facilitated by people willing to do the wheeling dealing in order to become a bit richer themselves.
I’m still furious about the bank bailouts in 2008! And I’m already against the next war, so I’m not happy about any of this. We don’t need AI. We shouldn’t trust AI for warfare anyway, if you’re going to do wars, which we don’t even need to do a lot of this warfare at all either.
There really is no justification for the data centers, it’s all a financial bubble bullshit built on a house of cards.
And we need to make sure representatives understand all this, because despite what people like Donald Trump or Kyrsten Sinema say, this IS a government for and by the people, and politicians only hold power at the permission of the public at large. And public opposition to data centers really is overwhelming.
Postcard addressed to Mayor Paige Cognetti of Scranton Pennsylvania (who is running for Congress), dated February 18, 2026, Dear Paige Cognetti, I’m hearing we’re going to have taxpayer bailouts for AI & crypto and data centers. I’m still furious about the bank bailouts in 2008! These tech companies are planning to claim they’re “mission critical” like Dave Tolson said on WVIA Keystone Edition, & we’ll be told to eat it while the tycoons are given a soft landing! Politicians going alone with this have lost the plot! Chloe Humbert. Scranton PA