Browse bills & rules

Requires data center owners and operators to submit semi-annual water and energy usage reports to BPU.

Jun 30, 2026: Substituted by S3379 (2R)

Requires electric public utilities to develop and apply special rules for certain data centers to protect non-data center customers from increased costs.

Jul 7, 2026: Approved P.L.2026, C.32.

"Responsible Data Center Development and Resource Protection Act"; establishes Statewide framework concerning siting, land use approval, energy sourcing, water use, and environmental impacts of large load data center development.

Jun 18, 2026: Introduced, Referred to Assembly Science, Innovation and Technology Committee

"Responsible Data Center Development and Resource Protection Act"; establishes Statewide framework concerning siting, land use approval, energy sourcing, water use, and environmental impacts of large load data center development.

Jun 4, 2026: Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee

Requires energy usage plan for proposed artificial intelligence data centers and cryptocurrency mining facilities; requires all electricity for artificial intelligence data centers and cryptocurrency mining facilities to be derived from new clean energy sources.

Mar 16, 2026: Referred to Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee

Requires submission of energy usage plan to BPU for proposed artificial intelligence data centers; requires all electricity for artificial intelligence data centers to be derived from new clean energy sources.

Jan 13, 2026: Introduced, Referred to Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee

Requires owner or operator of data center to submit water and energy usage report to BPU.

Mar 16, 2026: Introduced, Referred to Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee

Requires owner or operator of data center to submit water and energy usage report to BPU.

Jan 13, 2026: Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Environment and Energy Committee

Requires DEP to conduct study of short and long term effects of water use by large-scale data centers.

Jun 4, 2026: Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Environment and Energy Committee

AI Data Center Site Selection Transparency Act of 2026

Rep. McIver, LaMonica [D-NJ-10] · 9 cosponsors

Apr 23, 2026: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Requires DEP to conduct study of short and long term effects of water use by large-scale data centers.

Mar 16, 2026: Reported out of Asm. Comm. with Amendments, and Referred to Assembly Appropriations Committee

Data Center Community Impact Act

Rep. Watson Coleman, Bonnie [D-NJ-12] · 15 cosponsors

Mar 5, 2026: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Data Center Transparency Act

Rep. Menendez, Robert [D-NJ-8] · 10 cosponsors

Jan 8, 2026: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Requires data center developers to disclose certain information to public and elected officials before preliminary site plan consideration under MLUL.

Jun 8, 2026: Introduced, Referred to Assembly Science, Innovation and Technology Committee

Requires data center owners and operators to submit semi-annual water and energy usage reports to BPU.

Jun 30, 2026: Passed Senate (Passed Both Houses) (39-0)