At Town Hall On Proposed Data Center In South Jersey, Residents Voice Concerns: "We Don't Know This Guy"

CBS Philadelphia

January 23, 2026

More than 100 residents packed the Landis Theater in Vineland, New Jersey, Wednesday night for a town hall hosted by DataOne, as the company behind a proposed data center sought to reassure the community about the project's potential impact on water, electricity and the environment.

The meeting comes as data centers tied to artificial intelligence face growing scrutiny nationwide, particularly over their resource demands. Organizers stressed the event was not a formal public meeting but allowed residents to ask questions at an open microphone, warning the session would continue only if the crowd remained orderly.

DataOne CEO Charles-Antoine Beyney, who traveled from France, told the audience the facility would operate differently from traditional data centers. He said the project would use a closed-loop system that generates water through condensation rather than consuming local supplies and would pay its own power costs, avoiding any increase in residents' electricity bills.

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