this post was submitted on 25 Sep 2026
554 points (98.8% liked)

Technology

88390 readers
3338 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related news or articles.
  3. Be excellent to each other!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
  10. Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.

Approved Bots


founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
 

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.

top 42 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Almacca@aussie.zone 43 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (2 children)

Fines are just a cost of doing business. There needs to be criminal charges and real consequences on the people making the decisions, and shutting down those generators until they meet regulations.

[–] willington@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 5 days ago

Or the scale of the fine can be expressed as a percentage of the assets and revenues, to make the fines genuinely dreadful.

Never mind right sizing the fines. I keep operating from the assumption that we are dealing with largely reasonable people who have a bad take and are correctable.

Make guillotines great again.

No new taxea, no fines, no jails, straight to the public square guillotine with this level of malfeasance.

[–] JustKillinTime@lemmy.today 4 points 6 days ago

In many US states if you get caught poaching game, the equipment you used is often subject to confiscation - that includes the boat, 4x4 truck, etc. If you are walking down the street with a suitcase full of cash - police can simply confiscate it with no evidence of an actual crime. If you are not going to jail anybody at least get yourself 62 generators for free. Am I overthinking this?

[–] SabinStargem@lemmy.today 39 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Shouldn't they also straight up close the place and arrest everyone who signed off on it?

[–] FatVegan@leminal.space 2 points 4 days ago

Where does that money go? Do they pay? Why so little?

So many questions that could be answered by a bribe

[–] nilloc@discuss.tchncs.de 41 points 6 days ago (1 children)

$1.1M an hour right?

At least $1.1M a day right?

Not even $1.1M a week???

Why not $1 trillion?

[–] Taleya@aussie.zone 31 points 6 days ago

That's per generator, right?

[–] Wispy2891@lemmy.world 24 points 6 days ago

I feel that only 1 million is a fraction of what they would had to pay if they had to produce the certifications and documentations for getting the permissions for the 62 turbines

[–] shiftymccool@piefed.ca 17 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

In other news, Nintendo wins $4.5M from some dude selling pirated games....

[–] NGC2346@sh.itjust.works 3 points 6 days ago

Backward society

[–] skankhunt42@lemmy.ca 188 points 1 week ago (3 children)

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.

[–] Carmakazi@piefed.social 133 points 1 week ago (3 children)

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.

[–] Nooodel@lemmy.world 16 points 6 days ago

This. They are installed without permit, they will be uninstalled without warning.

[–] Dultas@lemmy.world 43 points 1 week ago

Compounding fines. If they're not gone in a week double it and fine them again. Continue until they're removed.

[–] WesternInfidels@feddit.online 21 points 1 week ago

When the law comes for little people, they call this civil forfeiture.

When the law comes for the bigwigs... we don't have a name for that. Because it doesn't go down that way.

[–] A_norny_mousse@piefed.zip 18 points 1 week ago (1 children)

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 X

That'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.

[–] Crozekiel@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 week ago

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.

[–] pageflight@piefed.social 17 points 1 week ago (1 children)

We need to stop fining and start taking away privileges. Sorry, you can't buy/build any fossil fuels any more.

[–] madcaesar@lemmy.world 8 points 6 days ago

I want the board / ceo to do prison time for shit like this, as well as the contractors that execute the illegal work

[–] DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 127 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

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.

[–] Bustedknuckles@lemmy.world 52 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Tow the generators and impound them!

[–] CheeseNoodle@lemmy.world 4 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Donate em to Ukraine, these things sound perfect for temporary emergency energy relief after strikes on infrastructure.

[–] NOT_RICK@lemmy.world 39 points 1 week ago

Instead they’re allowed to run them while they apply for the permit they didn’t follow through on. What a fucking joke

[–] edgemaster72@lemmy.world 22 points 1 week ago

"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."

[–] Jesus_666@lemmy.world 40 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Fine them one million a day until the generators are done. That should motivate them a bit more.

[–] Kissaki@feddit.org 6 points 6 days ago

They were already in violation. The days should count from the day they were installed, or from the earliest day it was confirmed as not yet installed.

[–] grue@lemmy.world 29 points 1 week ago

$1M on day 1, $2M on day 2, $4M on day 3, etc.

[–] Prior_Industry@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago

So just the cost of doing business in the end then.

[–] northendtrooper@lemmy.ca 67 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Fine per day, right? RIGHT?

[–] Evotech@lemmy.world 9 points 6 days ago

Exponentially increasing per day is still up right?

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 53 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Does the order also include removing the gas generators, or is it just cost of doing business?

[–] Zarxrax@lemmy.world 68 points 1 week ago (2 children)

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.

[–] TronBronson@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago

I’ve worked in construction most of my life and I always wonder how code enforcement will come down hard on small projects and do nothing about larger ones. This is a local government issue, and the locals write the laws….

[–] Photonic@lemmy.world 37 points 1 week ago

Absolutely ridiculous ruling

[–] Gerudo@lemmy.zip 41 points 1 week ago

I'm sure they totally turned off those turbines right? So they keep getting fined each day right?

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 24 points 1 week ago

Break the law, pay a tiny fine

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 24 points 1 week ago

Really? $1.1 million is nothing

[–] kat_angstrom@lemmy.world 15 points 1 week ago

If it's punishable by a fine, it's legal for a fee. We need jail time for CEOs, not paltry tickets

[–] DanceMomsSavedMe@lemmy.zip 15 points 1 week ago

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.

[–] 0x0@lemmy.zip 6 points 1 week ago

A measly mil?

[–] Grimy@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

DataOne works for Nebius which caters to Microsoft mainly. This wasn't a no name datacenter, it's Microsoft.