Covington Data Center Cited for Violations, Faces More Scrutiny

By Maurice Carter, Sustainable Newton Co-Founder & President

Today the Southern Environmental Law Center filed a petition on behalf of Sustainable Newton asking the Georgia Public Service Commission to determine whether VoltaGrid is violating state energy laws at its pop-up power plant in Covington, GA and to halt any unlawful operations.

When we last posted on June 29, Sustainable Newton had joined the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) and Altamaha Riverkeeper to file a complaint with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) on June 25, alerting them to apparently unpermitted construction activity at the Hazelbrand Road site where Houston-based energy company VoltaGrid is building a methane-fired power plant to provide electricity to Serverfarm data center next door. 

On July 2, following their investigation, EPD issued a separate Notice of Violation letter to each company.  The letter to VoltaGrid included an order that "the Company must stop all remaining construction of air pollution emissions sources and/or control equipment until such time that an air quality permit is issued for the construction and operation of the Facility."  Serverfarm was allowed to continue work because EPD issued a permit for their 37 diesel backup generators on June 29.  However, both Serverfarm and VoltaGrid are required to respond with additional information with in 15 days and were told in the letter that "the Company is not relieved in any way from liability for civil penalties pursuant to Section 23 of the Georgia Air Quality Act by submitting the requested information."

Today, in a separate-but-related matter, Sustainable Newton and SELC petitioned the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) asking them to determine whether to investigate VoltaGrid's stated plans to generate and sell electricity to the Serverfarm data center to decide if they violate the Georgia Territorial Electric Service Act and the Georgia Cogeneration and Distributed Generation Act.

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Violations at Covington Data Center Site Make Headlines & Newscasts

Atlanta media coverage of the air permit violations brought the situation to the attention of PSC Commissioner Peter Hubbard, who raised the question of possible violations of the Territorial Electric Service Act in a PSC hearing on July 2.  A resolution  authorizing PSC staff to open an investigation docket will be discussed at the July 16 commission meeting. Today's petition from Sustainable Newton and SELC is separate from, but complementary to, the resolution requested by Commissioner Hubbard.
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​Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Drew Kann was the first to cover alleged air permit violations, following a visit to the Hazelbrand Road site on June 25 with a drone photographer.  Kann's story was featured on the front page of the AJC's July 2 edition.

Following EPD's issuance of the Notice of Violation letters, Kann wrote a follow-up story for the newspaper's July 8th edition, reporting on the actions taken against both companies:  Georgia agency orders data center's 'pop-up' power plant to halt construction. d

In the same story, Kann also noted Commissioner Hubbard's remarks in the July 2 PSC hearing and his request to open an investigation docket.

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Sustainable Newton, SELC Ask PSC to Investigate VoltaGrid 'Pop-up' Power Plant

Quoting from the joint press release we issued today with SELC:

"Based on information from the companies’ air permit applications to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, VoltaGrid and Serverfarm are separately owned and operated businesses, which makes the sale of power from VoltaGrid to Serverfarm a violation of the Georgia Territorial Electric Service Act and the Georgia Cogeneration and Distributed Generation Act."
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"The Territorial Act divides the state into service areas and assigns each electric utility its own territory to serve customers in that area. Georgia’s largest customers (like Serverfarm) can shop around for their electricity provider, but they may only choose among certain electric suppliers regulated by the Public Service Commission. VoltaGrid is not a lawful electric supplier. VoltaGrid is also violating the Cogeneration Act because it is flatly prohibited from selling its excess energy to Serverfarm without oversight from the Commission."

VoltaGrid and Serverfarm tried to obscure their full impact on air quality in our community by seeking air permits as two distinct business operations, ignoring foundational tenets of Georgia's energy laws to do so.  Communities deserve transparency and equal protection when massive industrial projects are proposed in our neighborhoods, and we are relying on Georgia regulators to ensure these laws are fully enforced.

As I was quoted saying in the same press release:

“VoltaGrid and Serverfarm tried to obscure their full impact on air quality in our community by seeking air permits as two distinct business operations, ignoring foundational tenets of Georgia's energy laws to do so.  Communities deserve transparency and equal protection when massive industrial projects are proposed in our neighborhoods, and we are relying on Georgia regulators to ensure these laws are fully enforced.”