In a 9-0 vote, the Jersey City Council approved a ban on standalone data centers, signaling that concerns over electric bills, land use, and limited benefits are reshaping development policy across the state.
Jersey City joined a growing list of New Jersey municipalities seeking to curb the power and cost impacts associated with data centers.
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With the ordinance, Jersey City, the Garden State’s second-largest city, became the 34th municipality in the state to adopt some version of a data center ban and the second in Hudson County after Bayonne, according to Hudson County View. The measure bars standalone data centers but allows certain co-location facilities, such as those meant for research or financial institutions that store their own data.
That carveout drew particular attention during public comment. “This ordinance still allows co-location data centers in the industrial area, in any area, in Jersey City,” Stephanie Startz, who runs the Prevailing Sentiment Instagram page, told council members…