FDU Poll Finds NJ Voters Say Data Centers Should Pay More

 

 

 

NJ Voters Say Data Centers Should Pay More

Just about every option to bring down power bills has majority support

Fairleigh Dickinson University, Madison, NJ, October 28, 2025 –As energy prices take center stage in the New Jersey gubernatorial election, Garden State voters are in favor of just about any idea that could bring down their bills. While making data centers pay more for their electricity and building out natural gas capacity are the most popular options, partisan divisions drive down support for the policies most favored by both Democrats and Republicans According to the latest results from the FDU Poll, supporters of Democratic nominee Mikie Sherrill and Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli in the looming gubernatorial race also have very different ideas about how to address the rise in energy prices.

“Voters and politicians right now are flailing around for some way to fix energy prices,” said Dan Cassino, a Professor of Government and Politics at Fairleigh Dickinson University, and the Executive Director of the FDU Poll. “Just about every option has majority support, and the big message from voters is that they want Trenton to do something.”

In the survey, voters were asked about six policies that might help to alleviate rising electricity prices, at least in the long term, and could say whether they supported or opposed each. On average, voters said that they support four of the six policy options, with seven percent saying that they support all of them, and just three percent rejecting all six.

Making data centers pay more for electricity is among the most popular options, with support from 68 percent of voters, including 77 percent of Democrats, and 56 percent of Republicans. Just as popular is building more natural gas plants, with 67 percent support, though views on this option are more polarized: support is 90 percent among Republicans, but only 48 percent among Democrats.

“Whatever the merits of natural gas or renewables, they’ve become subsumed by partisanship,” said Cassino. “As much as people want to bring down their energy bills, they’re still putting politics first.”

Three other options also attracted majority support among New Jersey voters. Sixty-one percent of voters say that there should be tighter regulations of power producers and distributors, though support is much higher among Democrats (79 percent) than Republicans (41 percent). New Jersey already gets about half of its electricity from nuclear power, and fifty-eight percent of voters support building more nuclear plants. Support for nuclear plants is driven in part by partisanship – Democrats (41 percent) are less likely to support it than Republicans (77 percent) – but age plays a substantial role as well, with older voters being much less likely to support it than younger cohorts.

A large majority of Democrats in New Jersey – 88 percent – say that they support the construction of more renewable energy plants, including offshore wind, but overall support for more renewables is tempered by strong opposition from Republicans. Only 14 percent of Republicans – far less than any of the other options – say that they support more renewable energy development, meaning that the overall level of support among voters in the state is just 54 percent.

“The fact that renewables, and especially offshore wind, has become a hot button issue in the election means that views are hopelessly tied up with politics,” said Cassino. “Building out any kind of energy production requires long term investment, and that just isn’t possible when we have this degree of partisan disagreement.”

The least supported of the six policy options is restrictions on the building of new data centers. Only 43 percent of voters overall support limits on the construction of the power-hungry facilities that have been blamed for driving up demand for energy in the state, with support from 50 percent of Democrats and 31 percent of Republicans.

“Restrictions on data centers raise the specter of a conflict between economic development and the environment,” said Cassino. “Asking the state to forego new investment to keep down electricity costs seems like it’s a bridge too far for many voters on both sides of the aisle.”

Supporters of the two major party candidates in the upcoming gubernatorial election have very different ideas of what should be done. Among voters who say that they will definitely vote for Sherrill, the development of renewable energy is the most popular option, with 88 percent support. Tighter regulations on power companies and making data centers pay more for power each attract around 80 percent support.

The solutions favored by Ciattarelli supporters are rather different. Ninety-one percent of voters who say that they will definitely vote for Ciattarelli support building more natural gas plants in the state, and 80 percent support building more nuclear plants. In contrast, only 48 percent of Sherrill supporters favor more natural gas, and just 42 percent favor more nuclear energy.

“The good news is that there energy policies that get strong approval across the board,” said Cassino. “The bad news is that the most popular options among Sherrill or Ciattarelli supporters also face entrenched opposition from the other party.”

Methodology

The FDU Poll is a proud member of the AAPOR Transparency Initiative and is devoted to ensuring that our results are presented in such a way that anyone can quickly and easily get all of the information that they may need to evaluate the validity of our surveys. We believe that transparency is the key to building trust in the work of high-quality public opinion research, and necessary to push our industry forward.

The survey was conducted between October 9 and 15, 2025, using a voter list of registered voters in New Jersey carried out by Braun Research of Princeton, New Jersey. Contact attempts were limited to registered voters who had voted in one or both of the last two NJ gubernatorial elections or were newly registered since the last NJ gubernatorial election. These respondents were considered likely voters if they met these criteria and said that they intended to vote in November’s gubernatorial election.

Respondents were contacted via either live caller telephone interviews, or text-to-web surveys sent to cellular phones, resulting in an overall sample of 814 registered voters in the state. Surveys were carried out via live caller telephone interviews to landlines (131) and cellphones (275) and the remainder (409) were done on a web platform via weblinks sent via SMS to cell phones. Surveys were conducted only in English.

The data were weighted to be representative of the population of registered voters in New Jersey. The weights used, like all weights, balance the demographic characteristics of the sample to match known population parameters. The weighted results used here are balanced to match parameters for sex, age, education, region and race/ethnicity.

SPSSINC RAKE, an SPSS extension module that simultaneously balances the distributions of all variables using the GENLOG procedure, was used to produce final weights. Weights were trimmed to prevent individual interviews from having too much influence on the final results. The use of these weights in statistical analysis helps to ensure that the demographic characteristics of the sample approximate the demographic characteristics of the target population. The size of these weights is used to construct the measure of design effects, which indicate the extent to which the reported results are being driven by the weights applied to the data, rather than found in the data itself. Simply put, these design effects tell us how many additional respondents would have been needed to get the weighted number of respondents across weighted categories: larger design effects indicate greater levels of under-representation in the data. In this case, calculated design effects are approximately 1.2, largely driven by the weights used on the race/ethnicity variable.

All surveys are subject to sampling error, which is the expected probable difference between interviewing everyone in a population versus a scientific sampling drawn from that population. Sampling error should be adjusted to recognize the effect of weighting the data to better match the population. In this poll, the simple sampling error for 814 registered voters is +/-3.4 percentage points, at a 95 percent confidence interval. Including the design effects, the margin of error would be +/-3.9 percentage points, though the figure not including them is much more commonly reported.

This error calculation does not take into account other sources of variation inherent in public opinion studies, such as non-response, question wording, differences in translated forms, or context effects. While such errors are known to exist, they are often unquantifiable within a particular survey, and all efforts, such as randomization and extensive pre-testing of items, have been used to minimize them.

Weighted Telephone Sample Characteristics

814 Likely Voters in New Jersey

Figures do not include individuals who declined to answer demographic items.

Man                                

46%                 N = 377
Woman                            

52%                 N = 426
Some Other Way          

1%                  N = 7

 

18-30                          

15%                N = 122
31-44                          

20%                 N = 163
45-64                          

34%                 N = 279
65+                              

31%                 N = 249

 

White                                           

64%                N = 522
Black                                              

14%                N = 111
Hispanic/Latino/a                                     

12%                N = 101
Asian                                       

4%                  N = 34
MENA                                      

2%                  N = 16
Other/Multi-racial                                    

2%                  N = 18

 

No college degree                      

58%                N = 471
College degree or more             

42%                N = 338

 

Democrat (including leaners)    

46%                N = 370
Independent (no lean)                

16%                N = 130
Republican (including leaners)  

38%                N = 305

Question Wording and Order

First off, we’d like to ask you about this Fall’s race for governor.

NJ1. In this November’s gubernatorial election, do you think you will vote for the Democrat Mikie Sherrill, the Republican Jack Ciattarelli, or do you think you’ll not vote? [Shuffle order of Sherrill and Ciattarelli in question]

1. Definitely vote for Democrat Mikie Sherrill
2. Probably vote for Sherrill
3. Definitely vote for Republican Jack Ciattarelli
4. Probably vote for Republican Jack Ciattarelli
5. Probably won’t vote
6. Not sure [Vol]
7. Vote for Someone else [Vol]
8. [DK/REF]

NJ2. There are things voters like and dislike about each of the candidates. I’m going to present three things about what each has said about themselves, or promises to do in office. For each, tell me if it’s something you like about that candidate, something that you dislike about that candidate, or if you’re not sure.

[For each, randomly select three of the traits to present]

Responses for each:

1. Like
2. Dislike
3. Not Sure

Sherrill

1. Served as a Navy helicopter pilot
2. Mother of four
3. Has promised to Enshrine Abortion Rights in the State Constitution
4. Has vowed to fight against Trump administration programs that would hurt New Jersey
5. Has promised to freeze energy bills

Ciattarelli

1. Lifelong Resident of New Jersey
2. Opposes Wind Farms off the Jersey Shore
3. Wants to have a state level DOGE, like the one run by Elon Musk in Washington, to root out waste and inefficiency
4. Father of four
5. Has supported President Trump’s policies, including tariffs

 

NJ3. On a scale where 1 is very conservative, and 10 is very liberal, where would you place:

1. Mikie Sherrill
2. Jack Ciattarelli

NJ4. On a scale where 1 is intensely dislike, and 10 is intensely like, how much do you like:

1. Mikie Sherrill
2. Jack Ciattarelli

Intervening items held for later release

O2. There have been a lot of proposals to reduce energy bills in New Jersey and nationwide. Which do you think would be a good idea? You can pick as many as you like.

[Randomize order of options]

1. Support
   2. Oppose
   3. Don’t Know
2. Make data centers pay more for their electricity
3. Tighter regulation of power producers and distributors
4. Build more natural gas power plants
5. Build more nuclear power plants
6. Build more renewable energy plants, including offshore wind
7. Restrict the building of data centers and other businesses that use lots of energy

Intervening items held for later release

O5. Gender roles in the US have been changing rapidly, and we’d like to hear what you think about how men should act today. For each of the following statements, tell me whether you strongly agree or disagree, agree or disagree but not strongly, or have no opinion.

1. Strongly Agree
2. Agree
3. No opinion
4. Disagree
5. Strongly Disagree
6. [Vol] Don’t know/ Refused

 

1. Men should watch football games instead of soap operas
2. Boys should prefer to play with trucks rather than dolls.
3. A man should always be the boss
4. I think a young man should try to be physically tough, even if he’s not big.
5. Men should not be too quick to tell others that they care about them

Demos

Just a few more questions, for statistical purposes

D1. In politics today, do you consider yourself a Democrat, Republican, Independent, or something else? 

1. Democrat                    
2. Republican 
3. Independent  [ASK D1A]                                                                                   
4. Something Else/Other                          
5. DK/Ref [vol]

D1A. [Ask only if D1 is 3] Which way do you lean?

1. Democrat 
2. Republican
3. Independent                                                                
4. Something Else/Other                          
5. DK/Ref [vol]

D1B. In addition, which of the following terms would you use to describe your political views? You can choose as many as you like. [Shuffle Order]

1. Liberal
2. Moderate
3. Conservative
4. Socialist
5. Progressive
6. Libertarian
7. Make America Great Again or MAGA
8. Nationalist

D2A. To ensure we are reaching people of all ages, would you please tell me your age?

            ____    (ENTER AGE: 98=98+, 99 = REFUSED)

            [IF Don’t Know/REFUSED IN QD1, ASK:] 

D2B.  Would you be willing to tell us whether it’s between…?

1. Under 30
2. 31 to 44
3. 45 to 64
4. 65 or over
5. [Refused]

D3. What was the last grade in school you completed? [CODE TO LIST]

1. Did not complete High School
2. High School Diploma or equivalent
3. Vocational or Trade School
4. Some college, but no degree
5. Associates, or other 2 year degree
6. Bachelor’s Degree
7. Graduate work, such as Law, MBA, Medical School, or similar
8. Refused (VOL)

D4. How would you describe your sex? Do you describe yourself as …

1. A Man
2. A Woman
3. Some other way
4. [DK/REF]

D5. How would you describe your racial and ethnic background? You can pick as many as you’d like.

1. White
2. Black
3. Asian 
4. Hispanic/Latino/a/Spanish
5. Middle Eastern or North African (MENA)
6. Other or Multi-Racial
7. [Dk/Ref]

D6. The traits that we see as being masculine or feminine are largely determined by society, and have changed dramatically over time. As a result, everyone has some combination of masculine and feminine traits, which may or may not correspond with whether they’re male or female. How do you see yourself? Would you say that you see yourself as…

1. Completely Masculine
2. Mostly Masculine
3. Slightly Masculine
4. Slightly Feminine
5. Mostly Feminine
6. Completely Feminine
7. [Dk/Ref]

Release Tables

Percent Supporting Policy Option
	Overall	Dem	Indp	Rep
Make Data Centers Pay More	68%	77%	73%	56%
More Natural Gas Plants	67%	48%	73%	90%
Tighter Regulations	61%	79%	50%	41%
More Nuclear Plants	58%	41%	67%	77%
More Renewables	54%	83%	53%	14%
Restrict Building Data Centers	43%	50%	38%	31%

 

Percent Supporting Policy Option
	Overall	Def. Sherrill	Prob. Sherrill	Prob. Ciattarelli	Def. Ciattarelli
Make Data Centers Pay More	68%	79%	69%	60%	57%
More Natural Gas Plants	67%	48%	70%	84%	91%
Tighter Regulations	61%	81%	70%	32%	40%
More Nuclear Plants	58%	42%	55%	75%	80%
More Renewables	54%	88%	70%	36%	10%
Restrict Building Data Centers	43%	54%	47%	31%	29%

 

Percent Supporting Policy Option
	Overall	30 and Under	31-44	45-64	65+
Make Data Centers Pay More	68%	73%	74%	66%	64%
More Natural Gas Plants	67%	62%	61%	74%	65%
Tighter Regulations	61%	64%	61%	62%	58%
More Nuclear Plants	58%	59%	61%	63%	51%
More Renewables	54%	63%	59%	53%	47%
Restrict Building Data Centers	43%	48%	54%	38%	37%

 

Percent Supporting Policy Option
	No 4yr Degree	4 yr Degree	Men	Women
Make Data Centers Pay More	64%	73%	65%	70%
More Natural Gas Plants	69%	64%	77%	58%
Tighter Regulations	58%	65%	57%	65%
More Nuclear Plants	58%	58%	75%	43%
More Renewables	51%	59%	49%	59%
Restrict Building Data Centers	39%	47%	42%	43%

Media Contact:  

Dan Cassino 

Executive Director, FDU Poll    

973.896.7072/ dcassino@fdu.edu