New Jersey Data Center News

Jan 14, 2026

Emerging Data Center Markets: Key Locations to Watch in 2026

Cushman & Wakefield reports that power and land constraints in major U.S. data center hubs are driving operators to consider secondary and tertiary markets.

Main announcement: Cushman & Wakefield finds power and land constraints in primary hubs (Northern Virginia, Phoenix, Dallas-Fort Worth, Chicago, Atlanta, Portland/Eastern Oregon) are shifting site selection toward secondary/tertiary markets; highlights include OpenAI’s Stargate (~$100 billion) and Vantage Frontier (~$25+ billion) as large upcoming projects.
Details/background: Regions such as Pennsylvania, the Carolinas, Central Washington, New Jersey, and Massachusetts are offering economic incentives, faster approvals, and flexible regulatory frameworks; Central Washington offers low-cost hydro power enabling 100% renewable operation but is also facing power constraints.

Jan 14, 2026

Vistra to Bolster Gas-Fired Fleet by 5.5 GW With $4B Cogentrix Acquisition

Vistra Corp. has executed definitive agreements to acquire Cogentrix Energy from funds managed by Quantum Capital Group in a $4 billion transaction announced Jan. 5, 2026, adding 10 natural gas plants (5,496 MW) across PJM, ISO New England, and ERCOT.

Main announcement & deal specifics: Vistra will acquire 100% ownership of the Cogentrix portfolio for $4 billion, adding 5,496 MW of modern natural gas capacity (10 plants) and increasing Vistra’s total generation footprint toward ~50 GW; the transaction is subject to FERC, DOJ (HSR), and state regulatory approvals and is expected to close mid-to-late 2026. The deal includes acquiring the remaining 25% interest in the Patriot and Hamilton-Liberty plants and excludes Cogentrix’s Cedar Bayou 4 (550 MW), which Cogentrix will retain.
Background, financing, and timing context: The acquisition follows Vistra’s October 2025 purchase of Lotus Infrastructure gas assets for $1.9 billion (2,600 MW) and is supported by capital markets actions including $2.25 billion in senior secured notes (Jan 2026) and a prior $2 billion secured notes issuance (Oct 2025); Vistra expects mid-single-digit accretion in 2027 and high-single-digit average accretion (2027–2029) to Ongoing Operations Adjusted Free Cash Flow before Growth per share. Regulatory reviews (notably FERC Section 203) will examine competitive impacts in PJM and ISO-NE.

Jan 13, 2026

Six Stony Brook University Faculty Mentor Regeneron STS Scholars

Stony Brook University announced that ten high school students mentored by six Stony Brook faculty were named among the top 300 semifinalists in the 2026 Regeneron Science Talent Search (Regeneron STS).

Main announcement: Ten Simons Summer Research Program fellows, mentored by six Stony Brook faculty, were named among the top 300 Regeneron STS semifinalists; each semifinalist and their high school will receive $2,000. The article lists faculty mentors (Benjamin Hsiao, Mohammad Javad Amiri, Yuefan Deng, Zhenhua Liu, Howard Sirotkin, Nengkun Yu) and student projects such as stormwater remediation of 6PPD, AI-enabled drug discovery for oncogenic eIF4E, and Carbon-Aware Reserve Allocation and Checkpoint Scheduling for GPU Sustainability.
Background and details: The semifinalists were selected from >2,600 applicants representing 46 states, Washington, D.C., Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and 16 countries; 40 finalists will be announced on January 21 to compete for over $3.1 million in awards during a week-long event in Washington, D.C., March 5–11. The piece references the Society for Science administration of Regeneron STS and notes that since 1997 about 600 semifinalists have been mentored by Stony Brook faculty.

Jan 9, 2026

Meta Strikes Deal With Irving’s Vistra to Purchase Nuclear Power for Meta’s AI ‘Supercluster’

Meta has signed 20-year power purchasing agreements (PPAs) with Vistra to procure 2,609 MW of zero-carbon nuclear energy to support Meta’s operations and its Prometheus AI supercluster in New Albany, Ohio.

Main announcement & deal details: Meta is purchasing 2,176 MW from operating units at Perry and Davis-Besse plus 433 MW of incremental output from equipment uprates at Perry (OH), Davis-Besse (OH), and Beaver Valley (PA) for a total of 2,609 MW; the PPAs are 20-year agreements, purchases begin in late 2026 and the full 2,609 MW will be online by 2034; Vistra will use the commitment to invest in uprates and pursue subsequent 20-year license extensions for the three plants.
Background and implementation details: Vistra acquired the plants in 2023, recently agreed to acquire Cogentrix Energy in a $4 billion deal; uprate projects span approximately nine years and are expected to support ~3,000 project-related jobs, increase state and local tax revenues (described as tens of millions of dollars annually), and benefit the PJM regional grid (PJM service area list provided in article).

Jan 7, 2026

Patented: Making a Degradable Ice Straw and More North Texas Inventive Activity

Prive Products of Dallas has received a newly granted U.S. patent for a system and method to make degradable drinking straws from ice, invented by Thomas Surgent (Patent No. 12484726).

Main announcement: Prive Products, LLC — Patent No. 12484726 (Application No. 17609970 filed 05/16/2020; 2026 days app to issue) — describes a system with tubes extending into a reservoir, a connecting bar delivering hot and cold fluid into the tubes, and a resulting hollow ice straw that can cool a beverage as liquid passes through the straw. The abstract states: “A system and method for making degradable drinking straws made of ice (or other frozen liquid(s)).”
Background & roundup details: Dallas-Fort Worth was ranked No. 9 among 250 metros for the week of 12/2/25 with 134 patents granted. The article is a patent roundup (announcement/summary) listing top assignees (e.g., Texas Instruments Inc. — 15 patents), notable grants (Bank of America, Dell, IBM, Verily, Lennox, Halliburton, etc.), and includes patent abstracts, assignees, inventor locations, application numbers and days from application to issue. For partnerships or deals, the article provides assignee and patent filing/issue dates but no implementation timelines beyond application and issue dates.

Jan 7, 2026 · IT Brief Asia

Index Engines to showcase AI cyber resilience at Gartner

Index Engines will showcase its CyberSense platform at the Gartner IT Infrastructure, Operations & Cloud Strategies Conference in Las Vegas, demonstrating AI-powered continuous forensic validation to detect ransomware corruption and identify last known good copies for recovery.

Main announcement/action: Index Engines will exhibit at the Gartner IT Infrastructure, Operations & Cloud Strategies Conference in Las Vegas and demonstrate CyberSense, an AI-driven platform for continuous forensic validation of production storage and backup repositories; the company claims a 99.99% SLA for detecting ransomware corruption and will highlight recovery workflows that identify the last known good copy of data for restoration.
Background and details: CyberSense uses content-level analysis (file entropy, modification patterns, deletions, encryptions) to flag unsafe snapshots and runs ongoing validation alongside existing storage and backup systems; CMO Jim McGann will lead an expo session titled “Cyberstorage Resilience: AI-Powered Data Integrity to Minimize the Impact of Ransomware” focusing on ransomware response, forensic analytics to narrow recovery windows, and risks of reinfection from contaminated backups.

Jan 6, 2026

Data Center Jobs: Engineering, Construction, Commissioning, Sales, Field Service and Facility Tech Jobs Available in Major Data Center Hotspots

Data Center Frontier, in partnership with Pkaza Critical Facilities Recruiting, published a monthly roundup of current data center job openings on its jobs board.

Monthly jobs roundup: The post lists roughly 15–18 open roles (examples: Data Center Facility Technician, Electrical Commissioning Engineer, Construction Project Manager, Senior Electrical Engineer, Production Architect, Strategic Sales Account Manager, Mechanical Engineer, Site Selection Manager/Director/VP, Electrical Project Manager, Electrical Superintendent, Project Executive, MEP Construction Project Manager, Mechanical Commissioning Engineer, Engineering Design Director, Navy Nuke Facility Technician) with locations across the United States including Impact, TX; Ashburn, VA; Dallas, TX; Atlanta, GA; Reading, PA; Allentown, PA; Charlotte, NC; New Albany, OH; Lyndhurst, NJ; Boulder, CO; Richmond, VA; Austin, TX.
Role and employer context: Positions are listed with mission-critical data center providers, engineering design and commissioning firms, A/E/C architecture firms, equipment rental providers, electrical contractors and general contractors; listings repeatedly cite energy efficiency, sustainable design, and AI infrastructure support, and several technician roles explicitly note acceptance of Navy Nuke / military veterans.

Jan 2, 2026

State Broadband Bills of 2025: A Legislative Review

State legislatures across the United States enacted and considered broadband-related legislation in 2025; fewer than 140 of more than 600 proposed bills became law.

Main actions: States enacted laws prioritizing infrastructure and permitting reforms, pole and rights-of-way access, criminal penalties for theft/vandalism, state broadband funding, and data center incentives. Notable enacted measures include Hawaii H 934 (established a state Broadband Office and programs, enacted in June and backed by $400 million in combined funding), West Virginia SB 907 (expanded the Economic Development Project Fund to allow up to $25 million annually for broadband incentives and up to $125 million annually for broadband loan insurance) and West Virginia HB 2014 (signed in April; created microgrid districts with zoning/permitting exemptions and special property tax treatment for qualifying projects).
Additional details and timelines: States also raised criminal penalties (e.g., Oklahoma classified willful damage to a critical infrastructure facility as a Class D3 felony with fines up to $100,000 and prison up to 10 years; Louisiana authorized fines up to $50,000 and prison up to 20 years; California AB 476 increased penalties for knowingly buying illegally obtained scrap metal to $5,000). Other enacted programs include California SB 338 (a $2 million telehealth pilot), New Mexico SB 126 (Rural USF increased from $30 million to $40 million), and Oregon’s device support up to $100 in Lifeline-related assistance. At least 37 states passed data center incentives in 2025 and over 1,000 AI-focused bills were introduced nationwide, with ~38 states adopting or enacting roughly 100 AI measures in 2025.

Dec 29, 2025

BioLargo Reflects on 2025 Progress and Positions for the Next Phase of Global Infrastructure, Environmental, and Medical Innovation

BioLargo, Inc. delivered an open letter to stockholders summarizing 2025 progress and positioning its environmental, energy-storage (Cellinity), and medical (Clyra) platforms for commercial deployment in 2026.

Main announcement: BioLargo reports deployment progress in 2025, including installation of its proprietary Aqueous Electrostatic Concentrator (AEC) for PFAS removal at a municipal plant in Lake Stockholm, New Jersey, advancing public-private plans for Cellinity battery factory development aligned with state/regional infrastructure priorities, and Clyra completing a first production run for ViaClyr with commercial distribution preparations and expected product launches in 2026.
Background and details: Management emphasizes disciplined capital deployment and technical validation over rapid expansion; outlines use-cases across data centers, advanced manufacturing, energy storage, and environmental remediation; notes Clyra will present clinical findings at medical symposiums in early 2026 and that Cellinity is positioned as a domestic production alternative addressing safety and supply-chain concerns.

Dec 23, 2025

Data centers revive polluting ‘peaker’ plants across U.S.

NRG Energy withdrew a planned retirement notice for the Fisk oil-fired peaker units as surging electricity demand from AI data centers in PJM territory made peaker plants economically viable.

Main action: NRG Energy withdrew the retirement notice for Fisk’s eight oil-fired peaking units (December 2025) after AI data center demand drove prices in PJM higher; PJM said the market shows electricity demand outstripping supply and that existing generation is needed while new generation comes online. Key facts: Fisk = eight peaking units on former coal station site; EPA estimated sulfur dioxide 2 to 25 tons/year from the site; PJM prices to suppliers soared by more than 800% this summer.
Background & other details: Reuters analysis found about 60% of oil, gas and coal plants slated for retirement in PJM postponed or cancelled retirements this year; 23 plants were scheduled to retire starting in 2025 in PJM territory, and since January 13 retirements were delayed or cancelled (of those, 11 were peakers). The U.S. Government Accountability Office notes peakers supply about 3% of the country’s power but have capacity to produce 19%, and federal actors (DOE/Administration) have signaled interest in tapping spare capacity.

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