Data Center Record.

Laws · New Jersey

Data center laws in New Jersey

3 rules at the state level: 3 statutes. Each says what it requires in the words of its text, with the effective date the text gives and a link to the bill or order.

Last verified

Rules on the record
3
Passed
3
Statutes
3

Rules in New Jersey

  • A. 796 Statute

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

    Passed passed July 7, 2026. 2026-2027 Regular Session. This status is read from the bill's own record, not written here.

    A. 796 of the 2026-2027 Regular Session was signed on July 7, 2026. The legislature titles it: Requires electric public utilities to develop and apply special rules for certain data centers to protect non data center customers from increased costs.

    What it requires

    The act requires the Board of Public Utilities, within twelve months of the act taking effect, to set by order for every electric public utility the standards for serving large data center customers.

    The act requires the Board of Public Utilities, within twelve months of the act taking effect, to set by order for every electric public utility the standards for serving large data center customers. In doing so the board must fix the size at which a data center counts as large, as a minimum megawatt designation that may not be greater than 50 megawatts, and must aggregate the peak monthly energy demand of data centers under common ownership or control, on the same or contiguous sites, or sharing substantial physical, operational or interconnection infrastructure.

    Describes the act as enacted.

    The text: pub.njleg.gov primary source

    Last verified September 24, 2026.

  • S. 4928 Statute

    Requires payment of prevailing wage for certain data center construction.

    Passed passed January 20, 2026. 2024-2025 Regular Session. This status is read from the bill's own record, not written here.

    S. 4928 of the 2024-2025 Regular Session was signed on January 20, 2026. The legislature titles it: Requires payment of prevailing wage for certain data center construction.

    What it requires

    Every worker employed on construction undertaken in connection with a data center construction project must be paid at least the prevailing wage for the worker's craft or trade, as the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development determines it.

    Every worker employed on construction undertaken in connection with a data center construction project must be paid at least the prevailing wage for the worker's craft or trade, as the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development determines it. A data center construction project is construction, reconstruction, demolition, alteration, custom fabrication or repair work on premises whose operations consist primarily of computer servers, related equipment and support staff processing, storing and distributing electronic data, designed to use five megawatts or more of electricity a year after construction. A contractor may work on one only if it is registered under the Public Works Contractor Registration Act, has not been debarred from public works contracts in the State, submits certified payroll records, has a workers' compensation experience modifier rate of 0.95 or lower, submits its OSHA Form 300 injury and illness logs for the previous three years, discloses every federal OSHA citation of the previous 10 years and shows a safety plan meeting federal OSHA requirements. A contractor must prove workers' compensation insurance and general liability and owned and leased motor vehicle insurance of at least $2 million per occurrence, may not insure a subcontractor, must post a performance and payment bond of at least 150 percent of the contract value, is jointly and severally liable for any wages, benefits or other amounts a subcontractor fails to pay, may use temporary labor services only where the workers are enrolled in a registered apprenticeship program, and must keep daily sign in sheets naming each worker, the worker's contractor and the times of arrival and departure, submitted to the awarding authority each week. Every worker must complete construction training meeting or exceeding OSHA 10 standards and undergo drug testing; at least one onsite supervisor or foreperson, and one worker for every 15 a contractor employs on the worksite, must hold training meeting or exceeding OSHA 30 standards; and anyone operating heavy construction equipment or power actuated tools must show equipment specific training. A project designed to use 25 megawatts or more a year may include a project labor agreement with the labor organizations whose collective bargaining agreements are or were the basis for the prevailing wage, where it is determined before construction begins that the project advances State and local community interests in energy, efficiency, quality, safety, timeliness and a skilled labor force. The commissioner must adopt rules to carry out the act. It takes effect on the first day of the third month after enactment and applies only to projects that begin on or after that day; it was approved January 20, 2026.

    Describes the act as enacted.

    The text: pub.njleg.gov primary source

    Last verified September 24, 2026.

  • A. 5466 Statute

    Requires BPU to study effects of data centers on electricity costs.

    Passed passed July 8, 2025. 2024-2025 Regular Session. This status is read from the bill's own record, not written here.

    A. 5466 of the 2024-2025 Regular Session was signed on July 8, 2025. The legislature titles it: Requires BPU to study effects of data centers on electricity costs.

    What it requires

    The act requires the Board of Public Utilities, within one year of the act taking effect, to study how electricity use by data centers affects electricity costs in New Jersey, and within fifteen months to report what it finds to the Governor and the Legislature. It places no duty on a data center, an operator or a utility, and sets no size or load threshold.

    Describes the act as enacted.

    The text: pub.njleg.gov primary source

    Last verified September 24, 2026.

A law here is one statute, utility commission order, tariff, tax rule, moratorium or bill at the state level. What it requires is taken from the text, never summarized from coverage; a date the text does not give is left empty. Its status is one of five, defined on the laws index. The dated events beneath a law are the scorecard entries that cite it.

Bills tracked

50 bills tracked in the New Jersey legislature: 6 signed into law, 41 in committee, 3 failed or died. A row opens its own page, with its history, each recorded vote and the legislature's own text. A resolution states a position and does not change the law.

No official summary on file for 49 of these 50 bills; each links to the legislature's page for the text.

Signed into law 6

In committee 41

Failed or died 3

50 bills tracked in New Jersey; 2026-2027 Regular Session, legislature in session. No data center bills found as of October 26, 2026. Search terms: data center, data centre, large load, hyperscale, computing facility, server farm, high load factor (indirect), energy intensive facility (indirect), large electric load (indirect), digital asset mining (indirect), cryptocurrency mining (indirect), qualified technology facility (indirect), colocation (indirect), moratorium (with another term), sales tax exemption (with another term). The search on LegiScan.

Bill data from LegiScan, licensed CC BY 4.0. The record chooses the bills, writes each stage in its own words and cites the legislature's own page for every bill. LegiScan is credited as the finder; the citation is the legislature's own page. How bills and votes are recorded.

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