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Planning commission approves two on-site natural-gas generator permits for data-center sites, despite Sierra Club objections
Summary
The commission approved two special-use permits for compressed-natural-gas-fueled generation facilities to serve data-center campuses in Storey County, subject to conditions including state air-permit evidence before construction and an annual status update for one project.
Storey Countyplanning commissioners on July 16 approved two special-use permits for natural-gas-fired electrical generation facilities intended to provide on-site power to data-center developments.
Mitch Nelson, representing the applicant (tracked/tracq development and Fleet Data Centers), described each site as an approximately eight-acre generation pad inside a larger data-center campus, with containerized engines (about 36 feet tall) and on-site compressed natural gas storage fed by tanker trucks. Nelson said trucks would deliver at a low rate (roughly one tanker per hour for one site, a higher but still modest cadence for the other) and that the installations are intended as a temporary bridge while NV Energy transmission upgrades come online.
Olivia Tanninger, executive director of the Sierra Club Toiyabe chapter, urged the commission to deny the permits on grounds that the 144-megawatt plants would introduce substantial air pollution and greenhouse-gas emissions, that the use risks becoming long-lived rather than temporary, and that approving behind-the-meter fossil infrastructure to enable speculative industrial expansion would set a harmful precedent. Tanninger said the Sierra Club is engaging with NDEP on cumulative air-quality concerns.
County staff and the applicants answered questions about emissions and timing: staff noted the SUPs are processed as permanent land-use approvals under county code (because the zoning lacks a separate temporary-use category) but said construction cannot begin until state air-quality permits (construction and Title V/operational permits) are obtained. The commission added a condition for one of the permits (SUP 2026-017) that requires the applicant to provide a yearly status update to the Planning Commission within an agreed window after July 1 each year; staff explained similar update conditions have been used successfully on other long-term industrial projects.
The commission recorded votes of 4 approving, 2 opposed for each permit. Commissioners stressed that approval authorizes the land use only and that the county will require proof of required NDEP permits and other state/federal approvals before issuing building or grading permits.
What happens next: Applicants must provide evidence of NDEP construction and operational air permits and satisfy the conditions in the staff report before receiving county construction permits. The items will proceed to the Board of County Commissioners or the permitting steps required for construction as applicable.
