U.S. govt says Musk's gas turbine generators for xAI aren’t exempt from permits — EPA ruling closes local loophole that allowed Musk to get power from temporary on-site power generators

(Image credit: VoltaGrid)

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency just released a ruling that removes any permitting exemptions for all types of gas turbine generators. According to The Guardian, this move comes as some Memphis residents have been fighting a legal battle against Elon Musk and his xAI startup for its allegedly illegal use of generators to deliver power to his multiple AI data centers.

While any deployment of a gas turbine generator generally requires a permit from the authorities, the county where Musk’s first AI supercluster is located has a loophole that allows their operation without a permit, provided they are moved within 364 days. xAI took advantage of this technicality, allowing it to set up and run an AI data center with 100,000 Nvidia H200 GPUs in just 19 days — something that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says usually takes four years. It achieved this by using multiple portable power generators to power the site while waiting for the 150MW substation to finish construction.

Other AI hyperscalers have also started using this technique while waiting for a connection to the grid, with OpenAI planning to use gas turbines at its first Stargate site for additional power. However, EPA’s latest rule now requires air permits for gas turbines, even portables ones that are deployed on a temporary basis. More than that, companies that want to use them now have to abide by the requirements set in the federal Clean Air Act.

This is going to be a blow to companies that are rushing to build AI data centers and bring them online, even without available grid power. The U.S. electricity grid is being stretched thin by the sudden influx of power demand from millions of power-hungry AI GPUs, and many hyperscalers are now turning to on-site generators for electrical power while waiting for their site to get a grid connection. While the EPA’s ruling is not a ban on portable or even permanent turbines, it increases the regulatory burden for those who want to deploy them. Furthermore, they can no longer rely on legal loopholes in local ordinances, meaning they’ll have to follow the higher standard that the federal government has set when it comes to permits and air quality.

Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds.

TOPICS

Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.

3 Comments Comment from the forums

ezst036

Thanks for once again making our electric bills more expensive, EPA. Bunch of worthless POS's. Now where is Musk going to get power from?

The Grid. If Musk and all the other AI Data Center Gods are siphoning the Grid for power instead of the turbines, what is that going to do to the monthly bill of every person who comes to the Tom's Hardware forum? Up, up up! How much more can we take of this?

This is exactly the kind of thing that makes people wonder why in other contexts why there's never been anybody from an administrative agency who ever goes to jail, or even faces some sort of consequence.

The administrative agencies constantly make these decisions, they are constantly hurting us, and they never, never once, ever have to face any repercussion. They have an entirely free hand.

They are so out of touch with average Americans it is ridiculous. All of these bureaucrats in their ivory towers jacking up our energy prices every month and what do they care? They have no accountability. The federal agencies are completely out of control. They make 6 figures a year, an additional uptick in their electric bills won't hurt them.

Bet. Bet that not once did the EPA ever stop and think "How will this affect or even hurt average Americans?" Nah. Why on earth would they bother to think of something so simple. If administrative agencies did ever think of things like that a lot of our lives would be quite different.

It really sucks when they never stop to think about how they'll hurt you.
Reply
thestryker

ezst036 said:
Thanks for once again making our electric bills more expensive, EPA. Bunch of worthless POS's. Now where is Musk going to get power from?

The Grid. If Musk and all the other AI Data Center Gods are siphoning the Grid for power instead of the turbines, what is that going to do to the monthly bill of every person who comes to the Tom's Hardware forum? Up, up up! How much more can we take of this?

This is exactly the kind of thing that makes people wonder why in other contexts why there's never been anybody from an administrative agency who ever goes to jail, or even faces some sort of consequence.

The administrative agencies constantly make these decisions, they are constantly hurting us, and they never, never once, ever have to face any repercussion. They have an entirely free hand.

They are so out of touch with average Americans it is ridiculous. All of these bureaucrats in their ivory towers jacking up our energy prices every month and what do they care? They have no accountability. The federal agencies are completely out of control. They make 6 figures a year, an additional uptick in their electric bills won't hurt them.

Bet. Bet that not once did the EPA ever stop and think "How will this affect or even hurt average Americans?" Nah. Why on earth would they bother to think of something so simple. If administrative agencies did ever think of things like that a lot of our lives would be quite different.

It really sucks when they never stop to think about how they'll hurt you.
An impressively ignorant post which seems like it must have taken a lot of effort to ignore reality. Turbines like these aren't a permanent solution and are being used as a stopgap until capacity is available from the grid. This means the prices are going up anyways, and in a lot of places the prices will go up before the data center is drawing full power from the grid due to upgrade costs being passed onto electricity customers. If you want to complain about bureaucracy raising costs perhaps look at the officials rubber stamping data center builds and utility commissions allowing grid expansion costs to be passed onto customers. Those are the real problem rather than the one which rules skirting regulation to poison people who live near data center builds without oversight is not acceptable.
Reply
ezst036

thestryker said:
until capacity is available from the grid
LOL

$$$$$ up, up, up
Reply