Vineland Microsoft-linked data center draws noise complaints from neighbors

The noise is what neighbors notice first: a steady low-frequency hum from the DataOne campus at Lincoln and Sheridan avenues that some residents say travels through their homes and keeps them awake at night.

The project, tied to a $17 billion deal involving DataOne and Microsoft, is being built as a 2.6 million-square-foot AI campus, roughly 45 football fields. DataOne says the facility will need as much as 300 megawatts of electricity when fully built out, enough power for at least 65,000 homes for a year at full demand, and that 85% of its energy will come from natural gas. The company has also said the site will operate as a closed-loop system and will not require water, though residents and environmental advocates remain skeptical.

What is already running has become the center of the complaint. The campus is being brought online in phases, with 36 Bergen Engine units operating around the clock on natural gas through an existing pipeline, plus an additional 5 megawatts from Atlantic City Electric. DataOne has also sought approval to place a liquified natural gas tank on site as backup if pipeline service is interrupted, adding to worries about air emissions and industrial intensity in a part of Vineland that had not expected this level of utility pressure.

The Cumberland County Department of Health said it is investigating the noise under the New Jersey Noise Control Code. The department said it can measure sound, verify the source and issue penalties if violations are not corrected, but it does not have the authority to shut the facility down. That limit has left some neighbors frustrated, because the disturbance is immediate while the project continues to expand.

The political fallout has spread beyond the neighborhoods closest to the site. About 100 people gathered at a Vineland park in March 2026 to protest data centers and artificial intelligence, and the rally drew criticism of local officials for supporting the hyperscale project. At the same time, DataOne says the campus could create more than 200 permanent full-time jobs and become one of Vineland’s largest taxpayers, a promise supporters say could bring long-term revenue to the city.

The city has already moved money toward the project. Vineland approved a $6,198,786 bridge loan using Urban Enterprise Zone funds in late 2025, but DataOne chief executive Charles-Antoine Beyney later said on January 21, 2026, that the company would not take the money after a town hall. The Vineland Planning Board has continued to review the project, with a special meeting on March 26, 2026 and another agenda on April 8, 2026, underscoring how the fight is still being handled locally even as residents press for clearer answers on noise, water, air emissions and the load on the grid.