Impact Type: Environmental Impacts

PJM Emergency Energy Generation Order Request for Eastern U.S. Heatwave Will Increase Health-Harming Air Pollution – Center for Progressive Reform

Center for Progressive Reform's Bryan Dunning breaks down PJM's request to let "large loads" — largely data centers — run polluting Tier 2 diesel backup generators without normal EPA or state permit limits during the early-July 2026 heatwave. He notes this would be the third such backup-generation emergency order in 2026 alone, driven largely by…

Community & Social Impacts, Environmental Impacts, Grid & Infrastructure Impacts, Public Health Impacts
Data Center Power Usage

In 2023, data centers consumed 4.4 percent of total U.S. electricity — estimates put that share at 6 to 12 percent by 2028. PennFuture attorney Emma Bast breaks down how generative AI drives demand at every stage, from model training through token generation. A single ChatGPT conversation uses as much electricity as charging a phone.

AI-Specific Risk Analysis, Economic Impacts, Environmental Impacts, Grid & Infrastructure Impacts
AI Data Centers Trigger Third Federal Grid Emergency, Sending Bills Up and Air Quality Down

Three Section 202(c) emergency orders in six months have forced PJM-area data centers onto diesel backup power during heat waves, suspending normal air-pollution limits to protect grid capacity. PJM's capacity prices have jumped elevenfold, adding roughly $9.3 billion a year in ratepayer costs, while transmission buildout continues to lag years behind data center construction.

Community & Social Impacts, Economic Impacts, Environmental Impacts, Grid & Infrastructure Impacts, Public Health Impacts
Upstream Harms: OSI, AI Militarism, Big Tech, and Gaza – Opinio Juris

Centered on Israel's Project Nimbus — the $1.2 billion cloud computing partnership with Google and AWS that includes construction of six data centers inside Israel — this Opinio Juris essay by Patrick Brian Smith (University of Salford) argues that open-source investigation (OSI) practices should shift from documenting the aftermath of AI-enabled military violence in Gaza…

AI-Specific Risk Analysis, Community & Social Impacts, Environmental Impacts, Human Rights & Labor Exploitation
‘A muzzle on elected officials’: NDAs ‘cloak’ Louisiana’s biggest business developments | WWNO

At least 50 Louisiana elected officials signed nondisclosure agreements under Gov. Landry, blocking public discussion of major economic development projects including Amazon's $12 billion Shreveport data center campuses. WWNO reports on how the practice prevents residents from learning the costs, risks and tradeoffs of large-scale industrial deals shaping their communities.

Economic Impacts, Environmental Impacts, Public Health Impacts
Localized Air Pollution Impacts from Data Centers in Northern Virginia

In Northern Virginia, collective emissions from more than 100 data center backup generators rival output from the region's largest power plants. VCU researchers map CO, NOx and PM 2.5 at the census-block level, finding pollution concentrations correlate with lower income and education levels. Permitted totals would far exceed any other regional source.

Community & Social Impacts, Environmental Impacts, Environmental Justice, Public Health Impacts
Protecting Communities from Data Center Impacts Act of 2026 (H.R.9629, US)

Directs EPA with national Academies to assess environmental and public health effects of data centers, including: noise, air pollution, water consumption and supply, carbon emissions, and waste, and to develop recommended mitigations.

Environmental Impacts
Amp Up the People: A Practical Guide for Energy Justice Advocates in Utility Regulation

The Initiative for Energy Justice and Vote Solar co-created this guide for frontline communities navigating utility regulation. Covers Integrated Resource Plans, rate cases, Public Utility Commission proceedings, public comment strategies and equitable rate structures. Includes case studies of successful advocacy and a glossary of regulatory terms.

Community & Social Impacts, Environmental Impacts, Grid & Infrastructure Impacts
Utilities for All: The People’s Playbook to Ending Debt & Shutoffs

This playbook synthesizes lessons from 16 organizers and activists fighting for affordable, reliable energy and water. Covers tactics for banning utility shutoffs, eliminating consumer debt and building campaigns for local democratic control of utility systems. Funded by the Union for Concerned Scientists.

Community & Social Impacts, Economic Impacts, Environmental Impacts, Environmental Justice, Grid & Infrastructure Impacts
Environmental Burden of United States Data Centers in the Artificial Intelligence Era

US data centers produce 105 million tons of CO2e per year, with a carbon intensity 48 percent higher than the national average. A Harvard analysis of 2,132 facilities across 52 grid regions shows 56 percent of data center electricity comes from fossil fuels. Virginia, Texas and Oregon generate the most emissions.

AI-Specific Risk Analysis, Environmental Impacts, Grid & Infrastructure Impacts