Experts tell supervisors dispersion study likely required and costly for large data‑center generators

Aug 31, 2026

Staff showed wind-rose data for the airport area; a former Title 5 permitting official said a dispersion analysis to predict pollutant travel typically starts near $100,000 and requires stack-height and local-structure inputs.

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The board reviewed wind‑rose maps and a county wind dataset as part of an effort to understand how emissions from backup generators or a behind‑the‑meter power plant at a data center could travel across neighborhoods. Staff noted prevailing winds in the airport area tend to run south to north, and that prevailing directions shift across the county by month.

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