AI Summary
5 min readThe data center war
A few weeks ago, a reporter read a story in NJ.com about a data center going up in Cumberland County, the poorest county in New Jersey, that was receiving community pushback. That led him to drive to Vineland, New Jersey, to see it for himself. What he found was a 2.6 million square foot structure—one of the largest data centers in the entire Northeast—that had been approved and begun construction with what many residents say was little to no community input. There are already more than 4,000 data centers across America and more than 2,000 more announced or under construction. The question the episode sets out to answer: are data centers a necessary evil, or something else entirely?
The project that bypassed the community
The Data One data center in Vineland is massive—300 to 350 megawatts of power capacity across 2.6 million square feet. Congressional candidate Bailey Winder, who has made the data center a centerpiece of his campaign, told the reporter that "the process was expedited and it was shoved through." Residents say they were not notified until construction was already underway.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:05) **Driving to a Data Center in Southern New Jersey** - The host explains why they're investigating a data center in Cumberland County, the poorest county in New Jersey, after reading about community pushback and conflicting political opinions on data centers as a "necessary evil."
- 2 (02:50) **Arriving at the Data One Data Center in Vineland** - The host meets congressional candidate Bailey Winder outside the massive, newly constructed data center to understand the scale and the controversy.
- 3 (04:28) **The Expedited Process and Packed City Council Meetings** - Bailey describes how the lack of consultation led to standing-room-only city council meetings where residents from across the political spectrum united against the project.
- 4 (06:18) **Untangling the Core Concerns: Process, Energy, and Jobs** - The host presses Bailey to clarify whether the backlash is about the process itself, energy costs, noise, or the broader implications of AI.
- 5 (07:57) **Poorest County, Extractive Project** - The host asks if it's a coincidence that this massive project is targeting a community with less political agency, and Bailey connects the backlash to rising energy bills and a feeling of being unheard.
- 6 (10:18) **Community Pushback Delays Expansion** - Bailey confirms that the organized rally and public pressure directly led to the Vineland city government postponing a vote on expanding the data center by two months.
- 7 (12:48) **Driving Around the Data Center: Scope and Aesthetics** - The host and Bailey drive around the site, observing its imposing, prison-like architecture and the surrounding farmland.
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Show Notes
There’s a growing disconnect between a local community that says it’s being treated as the "guinea pigs" in a new industrial revolution, and Washington politicians.
This show was edited by Kasia Broussalian, fact checked by Esther Gim, mixed by Shannon Mahoney, video edited by Christopher Snyder and Shelby Smith, and hosted by Astead Herndon.
A massive new data center in Vineland, New Jersey. Photo by Alex Peterson.
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