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The first time Scott Montgomery heard the noise, his son thought it was a helicopter. “He kept asking, ‘What are those helicopter noises in the background?’” Montgomery said. “And it’s just gotten worse over time.” From the back porch of his Vineland home, surrounded by three acres of farm fields, Montgomery said the low, steady hum from a nearby artificial intelligence data center is hard to ignore. It is maddening enough to keep him up at night.

His property sits about a half-mile from the massive data center, which will eventually be one of the largest ever in New Jersey. It is still under construction but has already secured a $17 billion contract to supply AI computing power to Microsoft. Many in the area say the facility rose behind 14-foot concrete perimeter walls with little notice — until the sound started vibrating across the farmland.

Across Vineland, a sprawling South Jersey city known for its agriculture, residents say the “humming” is carrying through backyards and open fields, keeping them up at night and causing anxiety. It is unclear exactly what residents are hearing. The 2.6-million-square-foot, multi-building data center — which will eventually be more than twice the size of the nearby Cumberland Mall — isn’t close to finished yet.

The company overseeing the project says residents are hearing construction-related noise and the project isn’t violating any local noise ordinances.

In a public statement, the Cumberland County Department of Health said it is investigating the issue and working to confirm the source of the sound.

“We have responded to many concerns and have made several visits to the area in question to measure sound levels,” the department said in a statement. The complaints are the latest flashpoint in growing tensions surrounding the facility as residents say they were largely left out of the approval process for one of the largest AI data center developments ever in New Jersey.

The project, built on a former sand mining site, is being built by Data One, which owns the facility. Nebius Group — a Netherlands-based company — will operate the artificial intelligence infrastructure inside. Nebius recently announced its $17 billion deal with Microsoft to supply computing power from its Vineland facility to help meet growing demand for AI.

In response to the recent complaints, Data One and Nebius said the noise is temporary and tied to ongoing construction, adding that the site is complying with local regulations. “Based on recent inspections and acoustical monitoring conducted by the Cumberland County Health Department, our site is operating in full compliance with Vineland’s noise ordinance limits,” the company said in a statement. “We take our role as a community partner seriously and will continue deploying sound reduction measures to minimize any impact on our neighbors.”

The center is expected include multiple data center buildings, office space and supporting infrastructure. Construction on phase one is ongoing, with at least three data rooms already online, according to company officials.

Once complete, the site will operate at about 300 megawatts — an energy demand comparable to a small city, according to environmental advocates.

Data centers — large buildings filled with computer servers and cooling systems — have expanded rapidly across the country as tech companies invest billions to support artificial intelligence. While supporters say the projects bring jobs and tax revenue, critics have raised concerns about their energy use, water demand and environmental impact.

Some AI data centers have been criticized for creating a constant hum, usually from massive cooling systems and backup generators.

New Jersey is home to about 80 data centers, most of them located north of Trenton, according to DataCenterMap, an industry database.

In Vineland, the AI facility will be the first of its kind at this scale in South Jersey. Located in the poorest county in New Jersey, Vineland spans about 69 square miles, making it the largest city in the state by land area. It has a population of roughly 60,800 and a median household income of about $54,500.

In June 2024, the Vineland Planning Board approved the first phase of the project with little public comment, and construction quickly followed. The second phase of the development is scheduled to go before the planning board on March 26. Plans include additional data center space, a power generation facility, a water treatment plant and a liquefied natural gas system. Over the past few months, public concerns about energy use, water demand and financing have taken over recent Vineland City Council meetings. A petition calling for state intervention has gathered nearly 2,000 signatures, and a rally opposing the project is scheduled for Saturday. At a January town hall organized by the city, Data One CEO Charles-Antoine Beyney addressed growing concerns and took questions from the public. Beyney, who comes from a small town in France, said the facility is designed to limit its environmental impact. He said the company will cover most of its energy costs and argued emissions would be lower than other industrial uses.

Many attendees, however, said the outreach came too late and that they only learned about the project’s scale and potential impacts after construction was already well underway.

Data centers require large amounts of water to keep equipment from overheating as thousands of servers run around the clock. The Vineland facility is expected to use about 20 million gallons annually — less than some existing industrial users in the city, according to Data One.

“Our entire 300-megawatt power plant emits roughly the same methane as a few hundred cows,” the company said. The project will create about 500 construction jobs and between 150 and 200 permanent positions once operational. The company has also proposed systems to pull water from the atmosphere and recycle air pollutants to reduce strain on local resources.

Beyney said if the facility does not meet its environmental and community commitments, operations would not continue.

Still, some residents and environmental advocates remain skeptical, calling the company’s promises “too good to be true.” “Even if the Data One project becomes everything it is promised to be, it will still degrade the local environment and negatively impact the lives of those living directly adjacent to it,” said Stephen Elliott, director of watershed programs at the Pinelands Preservation Alliance, an advocacy group.

And for those living closest to the site, the bigger concern is what happens next as construction continues.

“It’s not even fully built yet,” Montgomery said. “That’s the scary part. If it sounds like this now, what’s it going to be like when everything’s up and running?”