SENATE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE RESOLUTION No. 18

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  MARCH 16, 2026

      The Senate Environment and Energy Committee reports favorably Senate Resolution No. 18.

This resolution urges states within the PJM Interconnection region to enact policies that will require data centers to obtain their electricity from new zero- or low-emission sources of energy.  Data centers consume approximately four percent of the electricity in the United States, and that is expected to increase to nine percent by 2030, according to the Electric Power Research Institute.  At the rate at which electric consumption is projected to grow, regional electric grids will likely be unable to meet these demands.  Regional electric grids across the United States are currently becoming less reliable and secure due to the increase in electricity consumption, in part caused by the rapid growth of data centers.  As a result, the need for clean energy to support the demands of data centers in the PJM Interconnection region is critical in order to alleviate the load on the electric grid.  Clean energy sources will be able to take on the burden of supplying electricity to existing data centers and provide long term sustainability for the increase in demand by data centers over time. 

      This bill was pre-filed for introduction in the 2026-2027 session pending technical review.  As reported, the bill includes the changes required by technical review, which has been performed.