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Committee orders study of data‑center impacts, hears robust testimony on PJM, AI centers and local costs
Summary
Lawmakers amended and released a bill directing the BPU to study how data centers’ electricity usage affects New Jersey rates and advanced a joint resolution urging PJM reform; a separate proposal to require AI data centers to use new clean energy was discussed but not voted.
The Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee voted to amend and release Assembly Bill 54 66, which directs the Board of Public Utilities to study the effects that electricity usage by data centers in the PJM region has on New Jersey electric costs. The committee also released AJR216 directing the BPU to investigate PJM’s reliability pricing model. A separate measure that would require artificial‑intelligence data centers to have electricity sourced from new clean generation (A5564) was posted for discussion only and received extensive testimony but no committee vote.
Witnesses from environmental groups, policy organizations and utilities offered starkly different views of the economic and reliability implications of data‑center expansion. Assembly members and witnesses repeatedly pointed to a massive increase in interconnection requests: PSEG’s interconnection study pipeline grew from about 400 megawatts to roughly 6.4 gigawatts in the past year, testimony said, a sixteenfold increase. Advocates for a study said that unchecked data‑center load growth can drive up wholesale capacity and energy costs and could lead to higher bills for residential customers if generation and transmission are not expanded.
Environmental and conservation witnesses urged requiring data centers to bring their own new clean generation or otherwise ensure they do not impose costs on ratepayers. Opponents and industry representatives said such conditions could deter investment, slow economic development and shift energy-intensive operations to neighboring states. Stakeholders asked the BPU to include industry and technical experts in any study and to clarify whether behind‑the‑meter arrangements would effectively remove new generation from the public grid.
The committee amended A5466 to clarify that the BPU must study the effect of data‑center electricity usage in the PJM region on New Jersey costs, and released the bill. AJR216 passed on a roll call urging PJM reforms and additional state coordination. The AI‑center clean‑power requirement (A5564) drew detailed testimony on water use, workforce during construction, and whether nuclear or renewables paired with storage could feasibly supply continuous AI operations; committee members left that measure for further work and did not vote on it.
