Statewide poll bolsters Vineland opposition to AI data centers

Vineland’s fight over a giant AI data center just gained statewide backing, and the numbers suggest local officials will face more pressure to treat it as a property-rights and quality-of-life issue, not just an economic development pitch.

A Stockton University poll released May 5 found 56% of New Jersey voters would support banning data centers in their own town, compared with 22% who would oppose and 21% who were unsure. The same survey found 54% were very concerned and 27% somewhat concerned about higher electricity costs, while 50% were very concerned and 26% somewhat concerned about environmental impacts, including energy and water use.

That matters in Vineland, where a 2.6-million-square-foot project, roughly the size of 45 football fields, is already under construction for DataOne and Nebius Group as part of a $17 billion deal with Microsoft. NJ Spotlight News reported the facility is expected to need about 300 megawatts of electricity, and WHYY reported the project would generate 85% of its energy with natural gas and is seeking approval for an LNG tank on site.

For many residents, the dispute has never been abstract. About 100 people gathered in Vineland in March to protest the project, and neighbors have raised concerns about a persistent low-frequency hum, asthma, drought conditions and the strain on the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer region. Those fears cut directly to daily life in Cumberland County: power demand, water use, noise, land use and whether the people living near the project will bear the costs while the benefits flow elsewhere.

The poll suggests those concerns are not limited to Vineland. Stockton said 54% of voters had heard at least a little about the growth of AI data centers in New Jersey, and 74% think AI will eliminate more jobs than it creates, compared with just 7% who think it will create more jobs than it eliminates. Pemberton Township became the first New Jersey municipality to pass a local ban on data centers in February, and other towns have since moved to impose restrictions, giving Vineland opponents a concrete precedent.

Town leaders still have tools to shape or stop projects like this one. The debate can run through local hearings, zoning decisions and the conditions attached to approvals, and Pemberton’s ban shows municipalities can go as far as prohibiting data centers altogether. At the state level, lawmakers have also moved to scrutinize the industry, with Senate Bill 4293 requiring owners or operators to submit quarterly water and energy usage reports to the Board of Public Utilities.

In Vineland and across Cumberland County, the argument is now bigger than one building. It is about how much power, water and land a town is willing to give to a data center, and who gets the payoff.