New Jersey fines data center $1.1M after drone pics expose 62 gas generators

sagarm•about 2 hours ago

> transitioning to low emission quiet fuel cells

Does this technology even exist? The lies are getting more brazen.

VogonPoetry•about 1 hour ago

Bloom Energy makes fuel cells that can run on natural gas. This site would need a very large number of them to replace gas generators. Each "bloom box" can create 325kW and are about 1m x 1m x 2m in size.

They make sort of whine/squeal noise when operating. Not sure of the dB level.

San Jose Ice Rink has had a bunch of these installed out back for about 10 years I think.

nancyminusone•about 1 hour ago

Well, most of the results on google images for "natural gas fuel cell" are of renderings or diagrams instead of actual equipment, that sould say something. Probably that they arent very common.

xrd•44 minutes ago

Wasn't colossus (Musk/grok) data center in Nashville powered by gas generators? And, xai just ignored the environmental regulation preventing it? Am I misremembering?

marcusb•19 minutes ago

It is in the Memphis area - not Nashville - but yes, they use gas turbine generators.

lovich•about 1 hour ago

1.1 million dollars and they are still allowed to run the gas generators?

I think this is inaccurately called a fine when it sounds like a retroactively applied permit fee to operate.

DamnInteresting•23 minutes ago

> retroactively applied permit fee

This sounds like a euphemism for "bribe." And if you replace "fee" with "expense" you get a hum-dinger of an acronym.

herewego•about 1 hour ago

A $1.1M fine is a laughable penalty to a data center operator. Meanwhile, DataOne is allowed to operate the gas generators while they pursue permits... good job NJ.

cucumber3732842•2 minutes ago

They got fined a million bucks for not having properly permitted their backup gensets, which were almost certainly included on all myriad of drawings that were part of the permitting application.

Reeks of "someone comb over their papers and fine them so it looks like we care"

bell-cot•about 3 hours ago

> ... first spotted ‘some type of unit’ on satellite imagery ...

> According to the NYT, the “tractor-trailer-size” generators were “impossible to miss” and certainly were not there when inspectors last visited in December 2025.

Just how lax is NJ's regulation, for violations to be noticed from space, after a billion-dollar construction project received no inspections for 9 months?

cousinbryce•about 2 hours ago

Hard to bribe satellites, easy to bribe NJ inspectors

dpoloncsak•about 1 hour ago

Yearly audits seem fair, no?

gamblor956•about 1 hour ago

Inspections are annual unless they receive complaints. This is normal. It works that way in the private world as well.

cyanydeez•about 2 hours ago

Commercial photography costs money. Hard to reconcile how public goods are all in private hands, but new jersey ain't launching satellites, they're also not going to buy daily satellite images.

bell-cot•about 2 hours ago

If NJ's inspectors can't be bothered to visit a site this large for 9 months, then would it do any good for the photography to be magically free?

If NJ's inspectors are honest, competent, and numerous enough to actually do the job, then would cheap drones be good enough to provide quick "big picture" views?

New Jersey fines data center $1.1M after drone pics expose 62 gas generators

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