New Jersey

Energy/Power is the dominant stressor: New Jersey lawmakers and regulators are focused on whether data-center load growth will push up residential bills, and both S680 and A796 are built around grid supply and cost allocation. New Jersey Legislature S680, Utility Dive. Water/Geology is the secondary stressor: local fights in Andover and elsewhere center on closed-loop cooling, water sourcing, and environmental impacts. NJ.com.

Bayonne mayoral race: Councilman Loyad Booker (D) has championed the council’s resolution opposing data centers, while former Council President Sharon Ashe-Nadrowski (D) argues the vote will not stop a project on New Hook Road; the issue is a visible campaign fault line in the non-partisan election. New Jersey Globe. Other 2026 statewide or congressional races with clearly documented data-center-specific messaging were not identified in the sources reviewed. NJ.com, New Jersey Globe.

No statewide moratorium or ban has been enacted as of May 2026, but the Legislature is actively considering restrictive measures, including S680, which would require new clean power and BPU-approved energy plans for new AI data centers and crypto mining facilities. New Jersey Legislature S680, New Jersey Legislature S680 statement. Local moratoriums/bans are moving fast: Andover Township has drafted ordinances to ban data centers and repeal them as a permitted use in the former airport redevelopment area, and multiple towns including East Greenwich, Millville, Logan Township, and Monroe Township have adopted or advanced local bans according to contemporaneous reporting. NJ.com, NJ.com.

A796 (as amended and reported by Assembly Appropriations) would require electric utilities to file tariffs for large-load data centers of 100 MW or more, bar cost shifting to other customers, protect against stranded costs, and require financial guarantees covering at least 85% of requested service for 10 years. New Jersey Legislature A796 statement, New Jersey Legislature A796 text. S680 also addresses cost allocation indirectly by requiring new clean supply and an energy-usage plan before new facilities can connect, while utility/regulatory reviews are underway at the BPU. New Jersey Legislature S680, NJBPU.

None identified. Ballotpedia’s 2026 data-center ballot-measure roundup does not list any New Jersey measure.

1) Andover Township / former Newton Airport site, Sussex County — proposed AI data center / high-performance computing campus by Andover HPC Development; status: contested and not yet formally applied. NJ.com. 2) Vineland / Cumberland County 1.2 million-square-foot data center — under construction or underway, but facing resident petitioning and concern over a constant humming noise; status: contested. NJ.com. 3) Kenilworth / CoreWeave AI data center campus — previously awarded up to $250 million in tax credits under Next New Jersey; status: large proposed project with community scrutiny but no clear cancellation found in the reviewed sources. NJ.com.

Climate Revolution Action Network; local Andover residents / coalition opposing Newton Airport redevelopment; Bayonne civic opponents around the council resolution; Stockton University William J. Hughes Center poll findings indicate broad public opposition, though it is not an advocacy group. NJ.com, New Jersey Globe, New Jersey Globe.

None identified at the state political-surface layer as of May 2026. Talent and workforce dynamics in New Jersey surface primarily at the sub-state and labor-market level — county and municipal proceedings on named projects, regional building trades council positions, and utility commission workforce testimony — which are out of scope for the tracker's state-political-surface read. Request a full RAIL briefing for sub-state and labor-market analysis.

Growing cluster. New Jersey has a meaningful existing footprint — one legislative filing cites 73 data centers in the state as of March 2024 — but the political fight is still centered on a limited number of new large AI projects rather than a single dominant hub. New Jersey Legislature S680, NJ.com.

“A majority of voters want data centers banned from their towns,” with 56% supporting local bans and 84% supporting requirements that data centers generate their own new power, according to the Stockton University poll reported by New Jersey Globe.

New Jersey Globe: Bayonne mayoral candidates spar over data center vote, NJ.com: 5 ways NJ is trying to rein in AI data centers, New Jersey Legislature: S680 text, New Jersey Legislature: A796 statement, New Jersey Globe: Majority of N.J. voters don't want data centers in their towns, Ballotpedia: Data center-related ballot measures, 2026