New Jersey roster of data center bans adds 4 more NJ towns this week

⚠️ Jackson became the 38th New Jersey community to ban data centers.

➡️ Stafford, North Brunswick and East Brunswick approved similar measures in the same night.

🔴 Residents cite electric bills, resource use and environmental concerns.

New Jersey is fast approaching a new milestone number of municipal bans on data center construction — 40 statewide, with a recent flurry of concern in Ocean and Middlesex Counties.

Jackson Township adopted its local ban on data centers with a 4-1 final vote by the Jackson Township Council on Tuesday.

It was the 38th New Jersey community to do so, according to those keeping track from Climate Revolution Action Network New Jersey, or CRAN.

The activist group joined Jackson residents and elected officials in stressing the need to protect the local environment, which includes part of the Pinelands National Reserve.

Ocean and Middlesex towns join data center pushback

Just a night earlier, Stafford Township was the first in Ocean County to approve a similar ordinance banning data centers.

That same day, so did North Brunswick and East Brunswick, according to CRAN organizers.

It’s a rare non-partisan issue, rooted in concerns over electric bill spikes and resource draining.

New Jersey residents of varied political backgrounds have appeared at various public meetings to criticize sprawling data centers already taking shape.

In a recent interview with New Jersey 101.5, Pinelands Alliance Policy Director Heidi Yeh said it was only last August, they received the first email tips about the existing data center in Vineland.

That 2.6 million-square-foot AI data center in Vineland grabbed attention, once the humming of its generators went viral on social media.

Critics point to a 'redevelopment loophole'

In what the Pinelands Alliance has dubbed the “redevelopment loophole,” Yeh said the first zoning changes happen when there’s little required public notice.

By the time a subsequent proposal is finalized for a warehouse turned data center, residents are finally notified about these often next-door plans.

When they show up to voice their concerns or objections, they are often told “too bad, you should have been here months ago,” Yeh said.

Manchester Township has introduced a similar data center ban, as the community has already been a focus of redevelopment scrutiny — which Yeh points out, in this case, would be within the Pinelands.

Locals clash over high-profile project in Union County

It has been a different story in Union County, where many residents have voiced frustration by CoreWeave’s AI data center being built at the former Merck property in Kenilworth.

CoreWeave — an AI cloud-computing company backed by Nvidia — first leased one of the buildings at the Northeast Science and Technology Center (NEST) on the sprawling 108-acre property along Galloping Hill Road, just off the Garden State Parkway.

It then bought the vacant campus for $322 million and has been working toward a roughly 400,000-square-foot data center for almost two years.

When the deal was first announced in November 2024, PSE&G was already serving over 30 large data centers.

PSE&G said they would be readying the area’s electrical infrastructure to support the energy needs of the new data center facility in Kenilworth, ROI-NJ reported.

Following attention to Vineland’s data center facility, public focus also intensified this year on the CoreWeave site.

Kenilworth Mayor Linda Karlovitch has defended the project, pointing to heavy loss of tax revenue from Merck.

“As one of Kenilworth’s largest ratables, its departure could have resulted in a devastating financial impact on our taxpayers,” Karlovitch, a Democrat, said in a Facebook post in April.

“Through strategic rezoning and a forward-looking redevelopment plan, we transformed what could have been a severe economic setback into a substantial financial opportunity.”

She also countered some concerns about the impact on the electrical grid and water usage.

“This project leverages the property’s existing infrastructure, including a dedicated power substation that has reliably operated 24/7 for decades. Additionally, the facility will utilize a closed-loop cooling system. The cooling system works like a home or car central air conditioning. There will be no water usage or evaporation,” Karlovitch said.

The mayor said that specifically chosen equipment and barrier walls around the chiller equipment would dampen most of the noise at the data center.

Despite those reassurances, residents voiced doubt that the electrical and environmental impact will stay contained within the old Merck campus.

Data centers in NJ — Data center Secaucus in NJ (Google Maps)

Data center bans are facing legal challenges

“Jackson didn’t wait for a data center proposal to protect itself and pass a ban. This was a smart move by the council,” CRAN Executive Director Ben Dziobek said in a written statement.

Monroe Township in Gloucester County is being sued for $300 million in damages by Hexa Builders, over the loss of the use of its property as a data center.

That follows an earlier lawsuit filed in Sussex County by a developer upset over Andover Township’s data center ban.

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