By: Cosmo F. Terrigno, Ed.S.
Artificial intelligence may exist largely in a digital world, but the infrastructure that makes it possible is decidedly physical.
It requires buildings filled with servers and computing equipment, along with substantial electricity and, depending on how a facility is designed and cooled, water resources. As demand for artificial intelligence grows, communities are increasingly being asked to accommodate the infrastructure that supports it.
In South Jersey, that discussion is no longer theoretical.
At the center of it is DataOne’s data center project on South Lincoln Avenue in Vineland. The facility is under construction and is being developed by DataOne for Nebius Group to support artificial intelligence infrastructure, with planned capacity of up to 300 megawatts, according to WHYY.
The project has continued to advance through Vineland’s municipal approval process. The Planning Board approved its amended site plan in August, and the city posted a formal Notice of Determination on Sept. 12. Separately, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has been reviewing compliance questions involving power-generation equipment at the site.
The development has generated expectations of economic investment as well as questions from residents about utilities, environmental effects, regulatory oversight and the long-term impact on surrounding neighborhoods.
Those competing interests make Vineland an important South Jersey case study in a broader issue: how communities respond when the economic potential of AI infrastructure intersects with demands on local resources, land use and established neighborhoods.
The physical side of artificial intelligence
Data centers house the servers and related equipment that make much of the digital economy possible.
According to the International Energy Agency, global electricity demand from data centers grew 17% in 2025, while electricity consumption from AI-focused data centers increased 50%.
Data centers support technology used by businesses, hospitals, schools, governments and individuals. Their growth has also brought greater attention to electricity demand, cooling systems, water use and infrastructure costs.
Vineland is confronting those questions locally.
Vineland residents seek answers
As the data center project has developed, public meetings and hearings have drawn significant interest from residents seeking information about the proposal.
In January, more than 100 residents attended a DataOne-hosted town hall at the Landis Theater, according to CBS Philadelphia. Company representatives addressed questions involving electricity, water and environmental effects, and residents were permitted to ask questions through an open microphone.
By August, anticipated public interest prompted city officials to move Planning Board proceedings from City Hall to the larger Landis Theater.
Resident Helen Petrites brought approximately 2,900 signatures from people opposed to the project to an Aug. 5 hearing, according to FOX 29.
The Planning Board continued its consideration later that month. WHYY reported that dozens of residents urged the board to reject the proposal during public comment and that no one spoke in favor during that portion of the hearing. The board ultimately approved the project’s second-phase site plan in an 8-1 vote.
The meetings, public comments and petition document significant community engagement and organized opposition.
Potential benefits and community concerns
DataOne and supporters of the development have pointed to investment, tax revenue and employment as potential benefits.
DataOne has said the completed facility will employ more than 200 permanent, full-time workers and become one of Vineland’s largest taxpayers, according to WHYY. Those figures represent company projections.
Vineland Mayor Anthony Fanucci and City Council President Paul Spinelli have publicly supported the development, according to WHYY. The city has also approved a partial tax exemption for the company as part of a five-year plan.
Residents, meanwhile, have raised concerns about noise, utilities, air emissions, water use, property values and environmental effects.
DataOne has responded publicly to several of them. At the January town hall, CEO Charles-Antoine Beyney said the facility would use a closed-loop cooling system and that the project would pay its own power costs rather than increase residents’ electric bills, according to CBS Philadelphia.
The project’s plans have since evolved. During the August Planning Board process, an engineer testified that the revised cooling design would reuse water but require an estimated average of about 8 million gallons annually from Vineland’s municipal supply, according to WHYY.
DataOne has maintained that its design minimizes water consumption and has said the project will comply with applicable environmental and noise requirements.
The project’s long-term economic, environmental and neighborhood effects remain to be seen.
Regulatory questions remain
Municipal and state regulators have also reviewed aspects of the project.
In August, Vineland issued two stop-construction orders after the city alleged that work involving liquefied natural gas infrastructure and fuel-cell units had begun before required municipal approval. DataOne responded that the notices involved limited equipment-placement work under an approved site plan and said it did not expect the temporary pause to affect its construction and delivery timeline.
Following the Planning Board’s August approval of the project’s second-phase site plan, the City of Vineland posted a Notice of Determination for Data One Vineland, LLC, on Sept. 12, formally documenting the board’s action.
A separate state regulatory question emerged in late August. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection told WHYY that inspectors observed natural-gas power-generating equipment during a July 29 inspection and that DataOne did not have, and had not applied for, a permit for power generators. NJDEP requested additional information and said it would make a compliance determination after reviewing it. As of WHYY’s Aug. 28 report, no determination had been announced.
The municipal approval and state review illustrate the different regulatory processes surrounding the project.
New Jersey responds to data center growth
The questions emerging in Vineland are also receiving attention at the state level.
In July, Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed legislation creating a separate ratepayer class and rate structure for large data centers. According to the Governor’s Office, the Data Center Fair Share law is intended to ensure that large data centers pay for their own energy use and associated grid infrastructure rather than shifting those costs to residential customers and small businesses.
In August, Sherrill signed additional legislation requiring data center owners and operators to submit semiannual reports detailing energy and water use. The administration also issued guidance and technical assistance for municipalities considering community benefit agreements with data-center developers.
According to the Governor’s Office, those agreements can help municipalities address local infrastructure and resource demands, emergency-response needs, workforce development and other community investments.
The state’s approach reflects the same questions visible in Vineland: how to participate in AI-related economic development while addressing energy costs, resource use, transparency and effects on host communities.
Beyond Vineland
Vineland is South Jersey’s most visible current data-center debate, but it is not an isolated one.
Medford Township adopted an ordinance in June designating data centers as a nonpermitted use in all zoning districts. Millville adopted an ordinance in May restricting and prohibiting data centers through its land-use regulations, while Cherry Hill adopted a zoning amendment prohibiting data centers in July.
The circumstances differ among the communities, but their actions show that South Jersey municipalities are already making policy decisions about whether and where data centers belong.
Vineland is accommodating a major AI infrastructure development while residents, the company and regulators continue to debate its effects. Medford, Millville and Cherry Hill have chosen restrictive approaches.
Together with New Jersey’s statewide response, those decisions demonstrate that data-center development has become a South Jersey issue involving more than technology alone. Municipalities are weighing potential economic development against questions involving land use, electricity, water, environmental effects and established communities.
Vineland provides the region’s clearest current example of how those interests can intersect.
As artificial intelligence creates demand for more physical infrastructure, South Jersey faces a defining question: where, and under what conditions, does that infrastructure belong?
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