Public comment closes on Amazon data center and Duke Energy engine permits in Richmond County
Public comment has closed on proposed air-quality permits for Amazon’s planned Energy Way Tech Campus and related Duke Energy equipment in Richmond County, but the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality has not issued final permits.
DEQ‘s Division of Air Quality held a hearing July 30 at the Old Richmond County Courthouse in Rockingham and accepted written comments through July 31. The agency’s preliminary determination is that both applications could be approved if specified permit conditions are met.
Two Hamlet facilities, 645 proposed diesel engines
The applications cover separate facilities in Hamlet: Amazon Data Services’ Energy Way Tech Campus at 198 Energy Way and Duke Energy Progress’ Richmond County facility at 1761 Airport Road.
Duke Energy is seeking to modify its existing permit to construct and operate 57 new diesel-fired engines on Amazon’s property. The utility describes the equipment as “bridge power” that would supply electricity until the data center connects to the grid. DEQ’s proposed conditions would require Duke Energy to retire those engines within one year after they begin operating.
Amazon is seeking a new permit for 588 diesel-fired emergency engines that would provide backup power at the data center. Those generators would remain on site after the temporary Duke Energy bridge-power project ends.
The two systems generally would not operate at the same time under normal conditions, although DEQ says limited overlap could occur during testing and startup. The total of 645 engines therefore does not mean all of them would routinely run simultaneously.
DEQ’s review remains preliminary
Both applications require Title V major-source air-quality permits. The proposed permits include emission limits intended to avoid triggering the federal Prevention of Significant Deterioration permitting program. Amazon and Duke Energy also would have to conduct emissions testing to demonstrate that their engines comply with the limits.
DEQ says its air-dispersion modeling found that emissions from each facility are not expected to violate health-based air-quality standards. That is the agency’s modeling conclusion; it is not a final permit decision or an independent finding that resolves every environmental or health question.
The agency’s public notice says the applications could be approved if required conditions are met. DEQ said it will consider the public comments before making final decisions.
Why the project matters in Richmond County
Amazon has described the Hamlet campus as a planned $10 billion investment expected to create at least 500 jobs, according to reporting by The Associated Press. The project is intended to expand the company’s cloud-computing and artificial-intelligence infrastructure in North Carolina.
WUNC/WFAE reported that Amazon’s permit materials describe 21 buildings supported by about 1,600 megawatts of diesel generation. The report also said the permit materials project annual emissions of between 100 and 250 tons for nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds, along with particulate matter, sulfur dioxide and benzene emissions. Those figures come from the project materials and independent reporting; they are not a finding that the proposed emissions will violate air-quality standards.
The proposed campus is in a census tract DEQ identifies as potentially disadvantaged. WUNC/WFAE also reported that the area is highly burdened under the CDC Social Vulnerability Index and that an Amazon community profile placed Richmond County within the state’s two least healthy ranges. Those conditions help explain why the final permit limits, testing requirements, operating restrictions and retirement deadline matter to nearby residents.
What happens next
DEQ’s next formal milestone is a final decision on the two applications. As of Aug. 3, 2026, the agency’s public information page lists the Amazon and Duke Energy applications under a comment period that ran from June 27 through July 31.
Residents can monitor DEQ’s air-quality public-information page and its online facility-records system for final permits, staff reviews, public notices, hearing materials and related records.
Until DEQ issues its decisions, the Amazon data center and associated Duke Energy engine project remain in the permitting stage. Neither application should be treated as finally approved.
Sources
- NC DEQ preliminary determination and public hearing notice
- WUNC/WFAE report on the Richmond County project
- Associated Press report on Amazon's North Carolina investment
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