This week, New Jersey ordered the operator of one of the East Coast’s largest planned data centers to pay a $1.1 million fine for secretly installing and operating gas generators in violation of the state’s Air Pollution Control Act.
Fine per day, right? RIGHT?
I’m sure they totally turned off those turbines right? So they keep getting fined each day right?
Break the law, pay a tiny fine
Really? $1.1 million is nothing
the [62] “tractor-trailer-size” generators were “impossible to miss” and certainly were not there when inspectors last visited in December 2025.
Each one of the generators cost roughly $1 million. With shipping, installation, etc. the total was probably north of $100 million for these generators.
So, they were fined less than 2% of what it cost them to have these installed. Pocket change, indeed.
Fine them one million a day until the generators are done. That should motivate them a bit more.
$1M on day 1, $2M on day 2, $4M on day 3, etc.
Tow the generators and impound them!
“You have 30 minutes to remove your generator.”
“You have ten minutes.”
“Your generator has been impounded.”
“Your generator has been crushed into a cube.”
“You have 30 minutes to move your cube.”Instead they’re allowed to run them while they apply for the permit they didn’t follow through on. What a fucking joke
So just the cost of doing business in the end then.
I’ll bet anything they budgeted for a fine and it was still cheaper than doing it the proper way. Whoever signed the paper to approve the install should be on the hook personally.
We need to stop fining and start taking away privileges. Sorry, you can’t buy/build any fossil fuels any more.
This here!
Cost of clean and legally installed energy = X
Cost of cheap gas turbines, don’t bother with permissions, plus a later fine = less than XThat’s a no-brainer.
Fuck this attitude. I could say Fuck Capitalism, but it’s possible to still make a good profit with X, so this is actually something worse than capitalism. Oh yes, a century of pathological, boundless greed encapsulated in tHe sToCk MaRkEt.
a century of pathological, boundless greed encapsulated in tHe sToCk MaRkEt
I’m pretty sure that is just describing Capitalism. Trade, Commerce, Profits, and Money all existed before Capitalism. The boundless greed and “line must go up” mentality is what Capitalism brings to the table.
NJ should have Public Works seize all of the offending generators with NJSP as backup. No warning, no compensation. Corporate lawlessness like this needs to stop being profitable.
Compounding fines. If they’re not gone in a week double it and fine them again. Continue until they’re removed.
You guys remember in I think Nice Dreams with Cheech and Chong where they put up the blue tarps over the plants and he acted like he was swimming?
I bet they start using tarps or building buildings around them to start hiding this kind of stuff.
Does the order also include removing the gas generators, or is it just cost of doing business?
DataOne was given 45 days to apply for the permits or else cease operations, but they can continue operating the gas engines while seeking permits.
Absolutely ridiculous ruling
If it’s punishable by a fine, it’s legal for a fee. We need jail time for CEOs, not paltry tickets
DataOne works for Nebius which caters to Microsoft mainly. This wasn’t a no name datacenter, it’s Microsoft.
A measly mil?
