Linden joins growing list of New Jersey municipalities banning AI data centers
City officials expressed concerns over the massive power and water consumption required by data center facilities
More Stories
Linden has voted to ban artificial intelligence data centers, shutting out the energy-intensive facilities from one of New Jersey’s premier industrial centers.
The Linden City Council approved the ordinance Tuesday night following months of community organizing by local residents and the Climate Revolution Action Network, a youth-led grassroots organization pushing for municipal data center bans across the state.
Linden now joins more than 100 municipalities across New Jersey that have enacted similar restrictions.
City officials expressed concerns over the massive power and water consumption required by data center facilities, arguing that the heavy resource demand fails to deliver long-term economic returns or permanent local employment.
"Linden has always been an industrial town, and we understand the importance of economic development and bringing new businesses into our community," Linden Mayor Derek Armstead said. "These facilities can require tremendous amounts of electricity and water, yet they don't necessarily create the number of permanent jobs you would expect from a project of that size. For a city like Linden, the potential benefits simply do not outweigh the concerns."
More than half of Linden is zoned for industrial use, housing oil refineries, power plants, and major logistics centers that frequently attract commercial developers. However, local leaders pointed to heightened environmental worries, noise pollution, and potential utility rate hikes for residents as key factors in their decision.
Councilman Eloy Delgado, who co-sponsored the ordinance, noted that Linden already bears a significant industrial burden and argued the city could not gamble with public health and natural resources given unanswered questions surrounding the technology.
Environmental advocates and grassroots organizations are now leveraging local momentum in Linden to push state lawmakers in Trenton to enact a three-year statewide moratorium on new data center construction.
