Council approves administrative transfer involving Bayonne Energy Center as residents press for clarity about power arrangements and data-center plans

The City Council on June 17 approved a procedural resolution authorizing an administrative transfer of controlling interest related to the redeveloper of the Bayonne Energy Center (BEC) as part of a parent-level corporate restructuring. Redeveloper counsel told the council the action is administrative: the site lessee and project obligations at the property will remain unchanged.

Multiple members of the public had raised broader concerns at the meeting about possible data-center proposals in Bayonne and how such projects would be powered. Speakers asked for clarity about whether the BEC had arranged to provide on-site power for large data users, noting emissions and resilience issues at the peninsula. Residents said that if data centers rely on diesel generators or on-site fossil power, the city should consider zoning restrictions or other controls before projects proceed.

Redeveloper counsel and city staff described the transfer as a corporate restructuring that triggers an administrative approval step under the redevelopment agreement; they emphasized that the energy-center project itself and its obligations under the redevelopment agreement are unchanged. Counsel said the redeveloper continues to be responsible for obligations and that the draft redevelopment agreement and any community-benefit and workforce-housing terms would be addressed in the redevelopment agreement stage.

Residents and environmental advocates pressed for greater transparency about power-supply arrangements and emissions. Some speakers referenced Bayonne Energy Center's permit renewal and questioned whether public notice and meaningful community review had occurred; they asked the council to make related documentation accessible and to consider environmental and evacuation implications of large new developments on the peninsula.

Council members voted to approve the administrative transfer after the redeveloper clarified the nature of the corporate restructuring. Council members said they would follow up on requests for documents and asked staff to ensure public access to relevant agreements and studies.