Graded Substantial and tightening. 11 laws, orders, rulings and local actions, each with its source, reviewed 23 October 2026.
P.L. 2026 c.32 (7 Jul 2026) makes large loads guarantee 85% of supply for 10 years, post security, pay study costs, curtail first and carry capacity duties.
The 7 Jul 2026 law mandates a separate rate class at 50 MW with a statutory 85% ten-year guarantee, deposits and dedicated infrastructure costs.
At least 112 municipalities had zoning bans by 20 Oct 2026, including Cranbury, Warren and Millville, which killed a 1.4 GW campus on 20 May 2026.
The End Data Center Tax Credits Act (27 Aug 2026) ends new awards under the $500 million program; prevailing wage applies from 5 MW.
P.L. 2026 c.75 (27 Aug 2026) requires semiannual energy and water reports from every data center with no size threshold, but carries no penalties.
Scored on rules in force, 1 to 5. 5 is the most regulated. Pending rules set the arrow.
Governor Sherrill signed S-731/A-796 (P.L. 2026, c.32) on July 7, 2026, which puts large data centers in their own rate class with long-term payment commitments and makes them curtail before homes during grid emergencies. On August 27, 2026 she signed a law requiring every data center to report energy and water use to the Board of Public Utilities twice a year, and another ending the Next New Jersey tax credit program for AI data centers. Her office says that completes her four-part plan; the community benefits and labor parts were handled by an August 25 guidance notice to towns and by prevailing wage rules that already cover data center construction of 5 MW or more, and a certified payroll rule for construction on tax-incentive property took effect October 20, 2026. There is no statewide moratorium, but by October 20, 2026 at least 112 municipalities had adopted zoning bans on large data centers, up from about three dozen in late August, and developers are suing at least three of them.
First reports under the disclosure law are due November 27, 2026 for existing sites and February 27, 2027 for others. The Board of Public Utilities has until July 2027 to issue the large-load standards under the July law, after which each utility has 180 days to petition for its tariff; no docket or order was found as of October 23, 2026. The Stop Data Centers NJ coalition has asked the governor for an executive order pausing new data centers above 20 MW, which she has not issued, and more municipal ban hearings are scheduled in Mahwah, Edison, Stanhope, Hamburg, Bethlehem, Rahway and Little Egg Harbor through mid-November. No court ruling was found on the developer suits against the bans in Monroe, Montgomery and Andover.
No. As of 23 October 2026 no statewide or local moratorium on data centers is in force in New Jersey. Proposals and expired pauses are not counted.
Tightening. New Jersey is graded Substantial, which means binding new costs, siting limits or disclosure rules on new data centers. New tariff, reporting and tax credit repeal laws; 110-plus towns have banned data centers. The outlook above says what is pending.
New Jersey sits in PJM. The grid operator decides how a new large load is studied, what it must bring or pay, and whether it can be curtailed first; the state decides siting, permits, tariffs and incentives.
Yes. New Jersey has paused, narrowed or ended a data center incentive in 2025 or 2026: End Data Center Tax Credits Act (S4390/A5165); Prevailing wage and certified payroll rules for data center construction.
On Genloop's five-line rubric (1 least regulated, 5 most) New Jersey scores grid connection 4, power rates 5, siting and land use 4, tax treatment 5, permits and water 3, a mean of 4.2. The most regulated line is tax treatment: The End Data Center Tax Credits Act (27 Aug 2026) ends new awards under the $500 million program; prevailing wage applies from 5 MW.
11 items: each is a law, order, tariff, ruling, utility action or local decision that changes what a data center must do, pay or disclose, or where it may be built. Failed and pending measures are marked. Each links to its source.
P.L. 2025, c.335, signed January 20, 2026, applies prevailing wage to data center construction that starts on or after March 1, 2026 where the facility is designed for 5 MW or more; project labor agreements are encouraged at 25 MW or more. A separate law (P.L. 2025, c.152) requiring certified payrolls for work on property that has a tax incentive takes effect October 20, 2026.
Source: nj.govBy October 20, 2026 at least 112 municipalities had adopted zoning ordinances prohibiting large data centers, up from about three dozen in late August; Pemberton passed the first in February and recent additions include Cranbury, Brick, Colts Neck and Stafford, with hearings scheduled in Mahwah, Edison, Stanhope, Hamburg, Bethlehem, Rahway and Little Egg Harbor through mid-November. The Stop Data Centers NJ coalition asked Governor Sherrill for an executive order pausing new data centers above 20 MW; she has not issued one.
Source: foodandwaterwatch.orgSigned August 27, 2026 and effective at once. All data centers, with no size threshold, must file semiannual energy and water reports with the Board of Public Utilities for an initial three years; first reports are due November 27, 2026 for sites open at least a year and February 27, 2027 for the rest. There are no penalties in the law.
Source: daypitney.comSigned August 27, 2026. It ends new awards under the $500 million AI data center tax credit program created in 2024. CoreWeave had already won the $250 million single-project maximum, and the economic development agency had paused the program in June 2026.
Source: news.bloomberglaw.comIssued August 25, 2026. It tells municipalities how to assess infrastructure and emergency response impacts, negotiate community benefits agreements, charge developers a share of off-site street and utility work, and use long-term or five-year property tax deals. Community benefits agreements are recommended, not required, except for certain state-incentive projects of $10 million or more. The notice says the Board of Public Utilities will write the standards for the July large-load tariff law (P.L. 2026, c.32) over the coming months with stakeholder input.
Source: nj.govAs of August 20, 2026 nearly three dozen municipalities had passed bans or restrictions. Hexa Builders sued Monroe in federal court for $300 million, E. Khan Development sued Montgomery over a ban covering the 257-acre former Kenvue campus, and National Land Developers sued Andover on July 10. No rulings yet.
Source: newsfromthestates.comSigned July 7, 2026 (P.L. 2026, c.32), effective at once. The Board of Public Utilities must set standards for each utility within 12 months with stakeholder input, with the size threshold for a large data center set at no more than 50 MW (common ownership and shared infrastructure aggregated); each utility must then petition for a separate rate class and tariff within 180 days of that order. Customers must financially guarantee at least 85 percent of requested supply for 10 years, post deposits or security, pay dedicated infrastructure and study costs, make demand flexibility commitments and report on them annually; data centers are curtailed before residential customers in emergencies, and a new load can offset its capacity obligation by paying for demand cuts elsewhere.
Source: pub.njleg.govThe version sent to the governor lowered the threshold from 100 MW to 50 MW and added demand response and priority access for projects that bring clean generation or storage. It replaced an earlier bill that Governor Murphy pocket-vetoed.
Source: baxtel.comThe township committee voted in June 2026 to ban data centers, one of dozens of local bans passed in the state that year.
Source: newjersey.news12.comAnnounced May 27, 2026: data centers pay their own grid costs, report energy and water use every six months, sign community benefits agreements under state standards, and use local trades. On August 27, 2026 the governor's office said all four parts were delivered. The first two are law; the last two were done through an August 25 guidance notice to towns and existing prevailing wage law, so community benefits agreements stay voluntary for most projects.
Source: nj.govThe Millville Board of Commissioners voted on May 20, 2026 to prohibit data centers citywide, stopping a proposed 2.6 million square foot campus that would have drawn 1.4 GW, the largest project blocked by a local ban in the state.
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