BREAKING: Nebius Told Investors Vineland Data Center Was "On Track" Days After Undisclosed Stop Orders

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The City of Vineland ordered a halt to the construction of the power infrastructure at the data center DataOne is building for Nebius ($NBIS), issuing two stop construction orders in the past week over work performed without permits, according to documents reviewed by Hunterbrook Media. The first order, issued August 6, cites the "Installation of a LNG Tank with no prior approvals or permits" and halts "any work being completed in reference to the LNG Tank installation." To resume, DataOne "must first obtain required prior approvals and permits," the order states.

The second order, issued August 10, concerns fuel cells at the site: "We have no prior approvals, plans, or permits in reference to the Bloom Energy Units," it reads, halting "any work being performed in reference to the Bloom Energy Units." Those are the fuel cells Nebius is counting on to power the roughly 300-megawatt site, whose capacity Microsoft has contracted to use.

Both orders were issued to site owner DataOne Vineland, LLC. The documents were published on the Facebook page of Sustain SJ, a local group advocating against the data center. Their existence was reported earlier by WHYY.

“The notices were limited to equipment placement work under the approved site plan. We do not expect this temporary pause to affect our construction and delivery timeline,” a DataOne spokesperson told Hunterbrook.

Vineland’s building code office told Hunterbrook it was instructed not to discuss the issue.

Under New Jersey's Uniform Construction Code, no one may continue construction in violation of a stop construction order, except with the enforcing agency’s permission “to abate a dangerous condition” or by court order. Each day of noncompliance is a separate offense, punishable by up to $2,000 per violation. The orders warn that no certificate of occupancy will be issued until any penalty is paid.

If DataOne Vineland, LLC does not comply with the stop construction orders, the City of Vineland could seek an injunction under the state regulation.

On Nebius' second-quarter earnings call Wednesday, two days after the second stop order, executives did not mention the stop construction orders when asked about the Vineland project.

"Overall, we are on track with our delivery," Chief Communications Officer Tom Blackwell said in response to a question about last week’s Planning Board meeting on the project’s amended site plan, which adjourned without a vote.

“We’re confident that the layout complies with all the applicable local, state, and federal laws and regulations,” he said. “And we’re optimistic that once the public has been heard, this will move quickly to approval."

Chief Infrastructure and Product Officer Andrey Korolenko offered more detail on the state of the site. "Bloom fuel cells deployment should be fast," he said, without mentioning that installation had already begun without the required approval. "And overall, the switch to Bloom has been a valuable and a good pivot for the project, we believe, and with no significant impact expected on the project time line."

Neither executive mentioned the stop construction orders.

Hunterbrook first reported on August 5 that Bloom Energy fuel cell units were being installed before the project had received Planning Board approval for the amended site plan. According to an online posting, a staffing agency held a hiring event in Vineland for Bloom Energy on July 31, seeking assembly technicians, with jobs potentially offered “on the spot” and starting “in August.”

The amended plan, which adds nine Bloom power areas, an 8,660-square-foot LNG tank, and an LNG filling station, was the subject of a roughly six-hour special Planning Board hearing last week that adjourned without a vote amid fierce resident opposition. The hearing is scheduled to continue at a special meeting on Monday.

A vote Monday isn't guaranteed: Public comment is again on the agenda, and the hearing could be continued on another date.

Nebius and Bloom Energy did not respond to requests for comment.

Authors

Till Daldrup is an investigative journalist who joined Hunterbrook from The Wall Street Journal, where he focused on open-source investigations and content verification. In 2023, he was part of a team of reporters who won a Gerald Loeb Award for an investigation that revealed how Russia is stealing grain from occupied parts of Ukraine. He has an M.A. in Journalism from New York University and a B.S. in Social Sciences from University of Cologne. He’s also an alum of the Cologne School of Journalism (Kölner Journalistenschule).

Blake Spendley joined Hunterbrook from the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA), where he led investigations as a Research Specialist for the Marine Corps and US Navy. He built and owns the leading open-source intelligence (OSINT) account on X/Twitter, called @OSINTTechnical (over 1 million followers), which also distributes Hunterbrook Media reporting. His OSINT research has been published in Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal, and The Economist, among other top business outlets. He has a B.A. in Political Science from USC.

Editors

Vikas Kumar joined Hunterbrook from The Capitol Forum, where he led the corporate investigations team for a decade as a senior editor. He was previously an attorney at Gordon Feinblatt, a trial attorney for the Department of Justice, and a law clerk for a federal judge. He has a J.D. from University of Virginia School of Law and a bachelor's from Emory University. Vikas is based in Maryland.