Generator permit latest front in data center fight

Concerns about the impact of 45 diesel generators that will supply back-up power to the Vantage Data Centers Lighthouse Campus on Port Washington’s north side have taken center stage as the Department of Natural Resources considers whether to grant an air permit for the site.

The concerns expressed during a recent public hearing on the air permit ranged from the potential impact on the health of residents living in the area to the environmental impact.

Carri Prom of Saukville, a founder of Great Lakes Neighbors United, which has fought the data center, told the commission that diesel exhaust is classified as a carcinogen, linked to cancer, heart disease and lung disease.

“As a nurse practitioner, I do not use that word lightly,” she said. “I have sat with patients whose lives were shaped by preventable exposures. I am asking you not to add to that list.”

Prom noted that the DNR’s analysis assumes emissions from the plant will be spread evenly throughout the year.

“That is not how emergencies work,” she said. “You need to model what happens on the worst days, not just average them away.

“We should not have to pay with our health for a billion-dollar company’s profits. We should not have to beg a regulatory agency to do its job. And our children should not inherit an earth we failed to protect.”

Speakers also questioned the standards used to judge the emissions and why Vantage was allowed to begin construction of the campus before the relevant permits were issued and said a full environmental impact study should be conducted before a permit is approved.

The DNR made a preliminary determination before the April 14 hearing that the application meets its requirements and the permit may be approved.  

The DNR permit is one of several issues centering around the data center that is heating up.

The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin is opening a comment period on a draft environmental impact statement concerning the extension of power lines to the data center campus.

The Responsible Energy Alliance, a coalition of Saukville, Trenton, Fredonia and Farmington residents potentially impacted by the extension of the power lines, was to hold a meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 29, at Riveredge Nature Center in the Town of Saukville to discuss ways to respond to the PSC.

The PSC is accepting comments on shortcomings in the draft impact statement until June 1, Patti Plough, a member of the alliance, said.

“They’re looking for more information so the report can be complete,” she said, adding that among the items that haven’t been adequately addressed are archaeological concerns and the question of whether the lines will create magnetic fields along Highway A.

American Transmission Co. has submitted an application recommending that the lines be routed through either the Town of Fredonia or Town of Saukville — options that area communities and organizations are fighting because, they say, these routes would significantly impact the environment and residents.

They are hoping to convince the PSC, which will determine the route, that the lines should run primarily along existing routes, minimizing the impact.

The PSC last week also approved a proposal by We Energies for a special rate for data centers that is intended to ensure these facilities, not homeowners, pay the full cost of powering these large electricity users.

But the PSC made some changes in the original proposal from We Energies intended to strengthen the plan, including lowering the threshold at which a data center qualifies for the rate.

It also turned down a proposal from the utility that would have split the cost of two new natural gas power plants between existing customers and data centers.

The $15 billion Lighthouse data center campus includes 45 diesel-fueled generators intended to provide emergency power in the case of an outage.

The air permit under consideration by the DNR is the last approval required from the agency for the data center, a DNR spokesperson said.

Mark Freeman, Vantage’s vice president for global marketing, said the permit would allow each generator to run for 50 hours a year, but it’s unlikely they will meet that cap because they are intended as back-up power sources.
The generators will most commonly run during monthly testing, he said, adding a maximum four generators at a time would run for 15 minutes of testing.

The generators will also run for an hour annually for a yearly maintenance check, he said, adding only one generator will run at a time then.

“The reality is they just won’t be running much as long as the grid is reliable,” Freeman said.

But during the hearing, speakers expressed concern with the amount of emissions that would be produced by the generators, saying it will exacerbate poor air quality in the area. Ozaukee County is in an ozone nonattainment zone, where air quality fails to meet the national standards for ground-level ozone.

Christine Le Juene of Port Washington, also a founder of Great Lakes Neighbors United, said she was motivated to speak because she suffers from a congenital heart condition and feels the effects of pollution.

“This is something to me that’s incredibly important. There have been days in past years I haven’t been able to leave the house,” she said.

She and others asked that the DNR conduct a more thorough analysis of the impact of the generators and the emissions they produce.

“What’s been done is inadequate,” she said in an interview. “I think that’s something that people have been frustrated with.

“It was great to hear so many people participate and speak passionately about their concerns.”

In a written statement to the DNR, Midwest Environmental Advocates, which represented the Sierra Club Wisconsin Chapter, also questioned the DNR’s process, saying it was flawed and a full environmental impact study should be conducted.

The group said its analysis showed that the generators had the capacity to emit more than 2,400 pounds of nitrogen oxide an hour, the equivalent of more than 5 million vehicles driving on I-43.

And, it said, the nitrogen dioxide emitted could cause air quality to exceed standards 10  miles from the data centers.

“While the WDNR and Vantage note that the generators are primarily to serve as backup generators, that does not make the emissions of the facility any less harmful to the surrounding community and environment when all generators operate simultaneously,” it wrote, adding there are no limits on how long the generators can run for emergency purposes.

Freeman said that Vantage “takes air quality and community health seriously,” adding the company will review the concerns raised by the public.

He noted that diesel generators provide a fast, reliable start, something needed in an emergency, and added that using natural gas generators would require extending a gas line to the campus.

When available, he added, Vantage uses a hydrotreated vegetable oil in place of petroleum diesel, noting HVO is a type of renewable diesel made of waste oils.

Vantage will continue to evaluate the benefits and risks of emission reduction technologies, Freeman said.

And, he said, the company has “significantly reduced the emission potential” of the campus by limiting the number of generators on site. Typically, he said, companies have enough generators to power their full load for 24 hours, something that would require more than 400 3-megawatt generators for a 1.3-gigawatt facility like the Lighthouse  Campus. Vantage is proposing 45 generators that are 1.5 to 2.75 megawatts each.