Cherry Hill, Evesham/Marlton, Medford, Medford Lakes, Moorestown, Mount Laurel, Voorhees and elsewhere near the iconic state highways of Routes 70 and 73.
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AI data centers and their impact on electricity consumption in New Jersey need to be reined in, according to a report released Tuesday by the New Jersey Policy Perspective, which attributed much of the 20% increase in electric rates last June to data centers.
"New Jersey residents and small businesses are already paying more for electricity because of data center energy consumption," the report from the nonpartisan think tank said.
The report stated that by 2030 data centers will represent nearly 10% of the state's total electrical usage. New Jersey has 48 data centers, with another 12 announced or under construction, the report says, quoting data from Aterio.
"Experts find that despite utility companies saying they keep data center costs separate, these ratepayers are essentially subsidizing big tech companies' data center projects through higher electricity bills," the Policy Perspective report stated. "Aside from the increase in electricity demand, data centers also often require upgrades to transmission infrastructure, and those costs are already being passed on to households and local businesses through increases in their electric bills."
The state Assembly last week passed a bill 55-18 that would require utilities to develop special rules for data centers to protect other electricity customers from higher costs. A Senate bill has moved out of committee.
A typical data center, essentially a large warehouse filled with high-powered computer servers, uses as much energy as 100,000 households, noted the report, which was written by Alex Ambrose, policy analyst, and Peter Chen, senior policy analyst.
The Policy Perspective report said the state should:
Create a standard definition of a data center for the purposes of state regulation.
Build strong guardrails for data center companies around cost sharing, transparency and energy resource requirements.
Standardize energy load forecasting.
Remove or restrict data center subsidies.
"Behind the promises of jobs and economic growth, the dramatic expansion of data centers has harmed states and communities: these facilities use large amounts of energy, do not deliver meaningful long-term benefits, and cause the state to lose money from subsidies and credits," according to the report.
