The case follows an August 2026 investigation that published thermal drone footage showing 45 of the 62 generators in operation. Those units had capacities of 1,982 kilowatts, far above New Jersey's 37-kilowatt threshold for requiring permits.
DEP Commissioner Ed Potosnak said data centers would not be “constructed or operated with impunity in this state.”
State officials said the generators produce carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and other pollutants associated with combustion. Regulators also noted that those emissions can worsen asthma, contribute to heart attacks and cause premature deaths. The Vineland facility is located near homes, farmland and two schools.
DataOne told The New York Times that it disagreed with the penalty but would submit applications for the required permits. The company also said it plans to replace the temporary generators with “low-emission, quiet fuel cells.”
The enforcement action comes after an earlier attempt by DataOne to secure permits for roughly 30 generators. The company withdrew that application in May 2026 after the DEP identified multiple deficiencies. Maintenance records cited in the earlier investigation indicated that some generators had been operating since October 2025.
State inspectors had last visited the property in December 2025. When they returned in July 2026, the large generator units were described as impossible to overlook.
Local residents had begun raising concerns months earlier. DataOne announced the project in March 2025, and questions about equipment at the site surfaced during a public town hall in February 2026 after a local farmer noticed unfamiliar units in satellite imagery while photographing a nearby golf course.
Residents have criticized both the size of the penalty and the decision to let the generators continue operating while DataOne seeks permits.
Steve Brown, an 18-year Vineland resident, told The New York Times that the fine was “still kind of a drop in the bucket for a company that has several billion dollars of capital.”
Another resident, Tiffany Leone-Vespa, argued that regulators should have imposed a separate penalty for each generator.
Sustain SJ, a local environmental group, is also pushing for stronger action. Co-chair Nichole Gardner said the Vineland facility should be required to stop operating the generators during the 45-day permitting period. Residents have separately filed a federal lawsuit over noise at the site.
“We have been fighting this development for nearly a year and we have proven time and time again that they cannot be trusted to be ‘good neighbors’,” Gardner said.
The controversy also followed DataOne to another planned project. On the same day New Jersey announced the fine, CEO Charles-Antoine Beyney was holding a public meeting in Frankfort, Indiana, where he said the company intended to be a “good neighbor” and had learned from its experience in Vineland.
Sustain SJ criticized those remarks, saying DataOne was effectively congratulating itself for “just simply following the rules.”
New Jersey currently has more than 80 data centers planned or under construction. DataOne is the first operator in the state to rely on its own off-grid gas generation rather than drawing entirely from the power grid.
The state's approach to the industry has already begun to change. Lawmakers recently ended a data center tax-credit program that had made $250 million in incentives available to developers. In Vineland, the mayor and city council had also proposed a $6.2 million loan for DataOne, but the company rejected it after local opposition.
The Vineland enforcement case now puts greater scrutiny on how quickly large AI infrastructure projects can add their own power sources when grid access is constrained. In DataOne's case, the immediate question is whether the company can secure the required permits within the 45-day window while continuing to operate generators that regulators say should have been permitted from the start.
This analysis is based on reporting from ars TECHNICA.
Image courtesy of Sustain SJ.
This article was generated with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy and quality.
