New Jersey Governor signs energy bills to curb data‑center costs

Governor Mikie Sherrill signed three energy bills aimed at lowering New Jersey household electricity costs and shifting the burden of data‑center power use onto the facilities themselves. The Data Center Fair Share Act creates a separate rate class for data centers, requiring them to pay for the electricity and grid infrastructure they consume, which lawmakers say account for about 70 % of the state's recent demand growth.

The legislation also includes a $25 credit for roughly 6 million residential utility customers and an additional $150 payment for low‑ to moderate‑income families, while repealing a utility surcharge tied to participation in the PJM grid and tightening state oversight of new transmission projects. State analysts project the combined measures could save ratepayers more than $1 billion annually. A recent state report warned that, without such action, electricity bills could keep rising as AI‑driven data centers expand, with some households already facing trade‑offs between power and essential goods.