Sponsored by:
Senator M. TERESA RUIZ
District 29 (Essex and Hudson)
Senator RENEE C. BURGESS
District 28 (Essex and Union)
Assemblywoman ELIANA PINTOR MARIN
District 29 (Essex and Hudson)
Assemblyman MICHAEL VENEZIA
District 34 (Essex)
Assemblyman ROBERT J. KARABINCHAK
District 18 (Middlesex)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senator McKeon, Assemblywoman Murphy and Assemblyman Bailey
SYNOPSIS
Requires owner or operator of data center to submit water and energy usage report to BPU.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Senate Environment and Energy Committee on May 22, 2025, with amendments.
An Act concerning water and energy usage at data centers and supplementing Title 48 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. As used in this section:
“Board” means the Board of Public Utilities.
“Electric public utility” means the same as the term is defined in section 3 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-51).
“Energy reuse factor” means a calculation of waste heat reused divided by total energy consumption.
“Data center” means a facility: (1) whose primary services are the storage, management, and processing of digital data; and (2) that is used to house computer and network systems, including associated components such as servers, network equipment and appliances, telecommunications, and data storage systems, systems for monitoring and managing infrastructure performance, Internet-related equipment and services, data communications connections, environmental controls, fire protection systems, and security systems and services.
“Power usage effectiveness” means a calculation of a data center’s total energy consumption divided by the total energy consumption of the data center’s information technology equipment.
“Renewable energy factor” means a calculation of a data center’s total renewable energy consumption divided by the data center’s total energy consumption.
“Waste heat reused” means any heat that is used or reused outside the boundary of a data center and that replaces, partly or entirely, energy needed outside the boundary of the data center.
“Water usage effectiveness” means a calculation of a data center’s total water input divided by the total energy consumption of the data center’s information technology equipment.
b. No later than 1[one year] six months1 after the effective date of this section, 1or, for a data center that has been in operation for at least one year as of the effective date of this section, no later than three months after the effective date of this section,1 and 1[annually] quarterly1 thereafter, the owner or operator of a data center in the State shall prepare and submit a water and energy usage report to the Board of Public Utilities that contains the following information, at a minimum:
(1) basic information relating to the data center, including:
(a) the name of the data center;
(b) the owner or operator of the data center;
(c) the address of the data center;
(d) the nature or purpose of the data center; and
(e) the month and year that the data center commenced operation;
(2) information related to energy and water usage at the data center, including:
(a) the total energy consumption in kilowatt hours, including the use of electricity, fuels, and other energy sources used for cooling;
(b) the name of the electric utility serving the data center and any electric service agreements between the electric utility and the data center;
(c) all on-site power supplies, including any primary power on site and emergency backup power supply and any permit information such as permit numbers, capacity, tier level, fuel type, total permitted emissions for the data center, and any other relevant information;
(d) the total energy consumption of information technology equipment in kilowatt hours measured as the value of the combined annual energy consumption at every uninterruptible power system connected to information technology equipment;
(e) the total water input in cubic meters that includes all water volumes that enter the data center that are used for the functions of the data center, including information technology, security, power, and environment; and
(f) the source of water for the data center including a municipal water supply, groundwater, surface water, and whether water from such sources is potable or reclaimed. If a data center utilizes more than one water source, the data center shall provide information regarding water usage from each source as a percentage of total water usage;
(3) performance calculations and indicators for the data center, including the energy reuse factor, power usage effectiveness, renewable energy factor, and water usage effectiveness;
(4) sustainability indicators for the data center, including:
(a) the average set point information technology equipment intake air temperature in degrees Fahrenheit, which shall be measured as the average set point temperature in all of the data center’s computer rooms over a 12-month period;
(b) the average waste heat temperature in degrees Fahrenheit, which shall be measured as the temperature of the fluid used to cool any information and communication technology equipment, averaged over a 12-month period and across every measurement point. Individual waste heat temperature readings shall be measured at the point where heated fluid enters a heat exchanger in the data center’s computer rooms;
(c) the amount of electricity derived from renewable energy in kilowatt hours; and
(d) the amount of waste heat reused in kilowatt hours; and
(5) any other information determined by the board to be necessary.
c. Within 30 days of receiving a water and energy usage report from the owner or operator of a data center pursuant to subsection b. of this section, the board shall publish the information on its Internet website, and update the information as necessary.
d. An owner or operator of a data center that has submitted a water and energy usage report to the board pursuant to subsection b. of this section shall notify the board of any substantial change in operations or technologies at the data center that would require an update to the information provided in the water and energy usage report submitted pursuant to subsection b. of this section at least 60 days prior to implementing the change in operations or technologies at the data center.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.