In a new op-ed on NJ.com, NJBIA President and CEO Michele Siekerka and IBEW Local 102 President Bernie Corrigan jointly wrote about the need for greater education regarding data center development in New Jersey, stating their op-ed was not “a case for approving every project” and that Gov. Mikie Sherrill was correct in calling for transparency and community review. The business and labor leaders said there has been much fear and misinformation spread about AI data center growth, and that New Jersey “cannot let misperception outrun opportunity.” They wrote that “national and global economies are at an inflection point” and that “the last thing we want to do in this rapidly advancing space of AI is to put a firewall around New Jersey being a leader.” Addressing misinformation on electricity costs, they noted that “electricity rates in New Jersey are set by utilities and regulated by the Board of Public Utilities, not by data center operators,” and that responsible operators fund new infrastructure directly, as seen with the CoreWeave project in Kenilworth. On water usage, they explained that after a one-time fill during construction, the cooling system “runs on a closed-loop design” and that “day-to-day water use at the facility amounts to what you'd expect from any office building.”