McGuireWoods partners Dale Mullen, Greg Riegle and Jonathan Blank wrote a July 31, 2020, article for InterGlobix Magazine highlighting two areas of regulatory and compliance risks for data centers.
Air permitting and permit compliance for large-scale emergency generators present risks for data centers, due to the amount of energy they consume and the necessity of large amounts of replaceable power across data center use. Data centers must remain aware of various governing regulations and reporting requirements to avoid costly compliance efforts.
The authors identified sustainability and energy sourcing as areas of additional risk. Because of developing technologies and the increasing size of data centers, they can expect intensified regulatory scrutiny and a focus on environmental, social and corporate governance.
According to the authors, if data centers develop solar power or co-generation, or want to implement uninterruptible power sources as a load-management resource, they will need to weigh the risks associated with federal and state environmental issues and regulations, against the anticipated benefit of tax incentives and reduced energy costs.
McGuireWoods’ data centers team was profiled as part of the 2020 InterGlobix magazine anniversary edition, and the firm has partnered with InterGlobix on multiple data centers programs throughout 2020.