Key facts
- New Jersey is introducing legislation to regulate data centers.
- A proposed bill would place a six-month moratorium on data centers over 10 megawatts.
- New laws require data centers to report water and electricity usage.
- A $500 million tax credit program for data center development has been ended.
- Governor Murphy discussed New Jersey's data center plans with Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger.
New Jersey is taking steps to regulate the burgeoning data center industry, with Governor Phil Murphy's administration pushing for legislation that aims to give local communities more control over the impacts of these facilities. So far this session, lawmakers have announced plans for over a dozen bills related to data centers. One bill, introduced last week, proposes a six-month moratorium on data centers exceeding 10 megawatts.
Governor Murphy, who has prioritized energy affordability, signed two laws last month designed to manage data centers' effects. The first requires these facilities to periodically report their water and electricity consumption to the state. The second law terminates a two-year-old, $500 million tax credit program that was intended to encourage their development. Murphy stated that government intervention is necessary to prevent corporations from making decisions that harm the environment or communities, referencing a recent diesel spill into a tributary of the Hackensack River from a data center.