A new Georgia data center could be powered by RICE. It’s not the kind you eat.

Data centers use tons of electricity. Some of the largest consume as much power as a small city.

Meeting those demands is a challenge for the industry. It takes time to build new power plants, tie them into the electric grid and clear permitting hurdles. Companies that can bring computing power online the fastest could have an edge, especially in the race for artificial intelligence supremacy.

To avoid some of the bottlenecks, at least one energy company wants to bring its own fleet of gas-burning engines to provide around-the-clock power to a data center next door. The arrangement would be the first of its kind in the Peach State and could help speed up development, but may come at an environmental cost, critics warn.

VoltaGrid, a Houston-based energy solutions firm, wants to install 33 reciprocating internal combustion engines, or RICE units, at a data center site in Covington, about 35 miles east of Atlanta.

The company’s plans were outlined in an application filed last month seeking an air permit from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division.

According to VoltaGrid’s application, the engines will supply electricity to a data center under construction next door by Serverfarm, an international data center developer and operator. Serverfarm already has one data center in metro Atlanta, in Gwinnett County.

Most data centers in operation or coming to Georgia require lots of backup generators. Last month, developers applied to EPD seeking air permits to install 97 emergency diesel generators for a data center being built by DC BLOX in Conyers. If the power goes out, the facilities need a way to keep the expensive computer chips inside the warehouse from overheating.

VoltaGrid’s plans are different.

The company’s fleet will have a maximum power output of 90 megawatts. For context, a single megawatt of electricity is typically enough to power several hundred homes. And instead of providing emergency power, the company wants its units permitted to run 24/7, year-round to provide “baseload” power to the Serverfarm facility.

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

Georgia EPD spokeswoman Sara Lips confirmed there are no other facilities in the state permitted to use large numbers of RICE generators as their primary power source. The company is seeking to install its engines as soon as March.

VoltaGrid’s permit application says the installation will “fulfill an immediate need for alternative, rapidly deployable prime power.” What’s not clear is whether the engines are the data center’s long-term energy solution or just a stopgap until they can secure power from the electric grid.

On its website, VoltaGrid touts its engines as “bridge” or permanent power solutions for data centers, but neither VoltaGrid nor Serverfarm responded to questions about their ultimate plans.

Georgia Power declined to answer questions about whether it will supply the Serverfarm facility, citing the company’s policy not to “disclose customer-specific agreements, timelines, or proprietary details.”

‘Not … a clean energy source’

VoltaGrid bills its installations on its website as an “environmentally friendly” power solution for data centers.

Experts say that’s a stretch.

Joe Bozeman III, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Georgia Tech, said the facility will generate cleaner electricity than a coal-fired power plant. Still, burning natural gas produces carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas responsible for global warming. Extracting and transporting natural gas also releases methane, an even more potent greenhouse gas that’s heating up the planet.

“I would not categorize this as a clean energy source,” Bozeman said.

Some environmental groups also say they worry about air pollution from the facility.

“On-site electricity generation can have significant local air quality concerns,” said Patrick Anderson, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center.

The engines will be in a suburban industrial corridor near several existing manufacturing plants, but there are residences roughly 2,500 feet from the site. A nature preserve also sits about a mile away.

VoltaGrid’s air permit application says each RICE unit features a “built-in combustion exhaust treatment system,” but the company’s modeling shows the emissions will still contain compounds that could pose health hazards.

Those include a class of ultrafine particle pollution called PM 2.5, which has been linked to a range of cardiovascular and respiratory problems. The units will also release nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds, two known contributors to ground-level ozone, an air pollutant that can trigger breathing problems, especially in people with asthma, children and the elderly.

VoltaGrid and Serverfarm did not immediately respond to questions about the environmental impacts of the facility.

Earlier this year, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that pockets of the metro Atlanta region are once again at risk of falling short of meeting federal ozone standards.

Lips said EPD is aware of Georgia’s data center boom and monitoring its impact. As more facilities crop up, Lips also said they are discussing possible measures to ensure the state can meet federal air rules.

“The division will only proceed toward drafting and issuing a permit if we believe the facility can meet all applicable requirements and air quality standards,” Lips said.

The constant hum of the engines could also generate noise pollution.

Rick Neitzel, a professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Michigan who studies noise exposure, said he had not reviewed VoltaGrid’s entire application, but said their projected sound levels could be a nuisance — or worse — for areas closest to the facility.

Bring your own generation

It’s not clear whether more VoltaGrid-like proposals will pop up in Georgia.

Lips said EPD is not aware of any similar power facilities planning to apply for permits in the near future.

But in an era of high electricity costs and rising power demand, the idea of BYOG — bring your own generation — is catching on for data centers.

In Georgia, Georgia Power and the Clean Energy Buyers Association — which counts tech giants Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft among its members — are reportedly working to finalize an agreement that could let data centers find and pay for their own green energy.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright also raised the idea in a September interview with Axios. More recently, Wright suggested allowing generators stationed at data centers to send power to the grid. It’s a move he said could help alleviate the electricity demand crunch in certain areas, but critics warn it would worsen climate change.

Wright’s proposals align with President Donald Trump’s pledges to ease permitting requirements and shorten grid connection times for AI data centers. But so far, the administration’s changes have overwhelmingly favored fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal — not renewables like wind and solar.

If done responsibly, Bozeman, the Georgia Tech professor, said on-site generation like VoltaGrid’s could help shield residential customers from bearing data centers’ energy costs. Still, he warned the financial benefits may come at a cost in the form of environmental harms, if that electricity comes from fossil fuels.

“Is it worth the extra greenhouse gas emissions and some of the other unseen impacts?” Bozeman asked.

A note of disclosure

This coverage is supported by a partnership with Green South Foundation and Journalism Funding Partners. You can learn more and support our climate reporting by donating at AJC.com/donate/climate.