A bill requiring the Board of Public Utilities to study how the electricity demands of data centers are influencing utility costs in New Jersey has been signed by Gov. Phil Murphy.
A focus of the study will be to determine the impact of expanding data center demand for electricity on residential and small business ratepayers.
The bill, signed by Murphy July 8, had wide bipartisan support in the Legislature. One of its sponsors, Assemblyman Roy Freiman (D-16), said, “This bill will ensure that we have the data needed to make more informed decisions about protecting consumers and maintaining a fair, modern energy system.”
The study is to explore various factors, including the fairness of current cost distribution to residential and small business users, the potential for rate increases resulting from data center power demands and projections of the effect of data center power consumption on residential electricity rates over the next two decades.
The BPU is obligated to provide a report to both the governor and the Legislature within 15 months of the bill’s enactment. It passed the Assembly 75-2 and the Senate 38-0.
-Vince Conti
