Editor, Times-Union:
Picture a 500-acre data center near Leesburg — a digital giant running servers, cooling systems, and AI workloads. Tech titans like Google or Amazon might build it, drawn by Indiana’s cheap land, water, and Midwest grid access. But it’s a power hog, potentially consuming 1,000 megawatts (MW) — enough to light up Indianapolis. For Hoosiers facing a 20% energy shortfall and steep rate hikes from NIPSCO and the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC), this spells trouble.
A hyperscale data center could demand 2 MW per acre, totaling 1,000 MW — far more than the 50-100 MW of older facilities. Indiana generates 27,000 MW, but coal plant closures and sluggish renewables (wind at 10%, solar at 3%) leave us 20% short. One data center could eat 4% of our capacity, with more facilities sprouting statewide.
For residents, it’s a financial hit. NIPSCO, serving 480,000 customers, wants a 22% rate hike — $32 more monthly per household — by September 2025. The IURC blames renewable shifts and grid upgrades. NIPSCO’s also planning 3 gigawatts of gas plants, partly for data centers, passing costs to consumers while tech firms snag deals or credits.
Indiana’s grid, run by MISO and PJM, is strained. Coal (45% of power) is fading — plants like Merom got reprieves for data center needs. NIPSCO’s coal outages and gas price swings have already raised bills 33% from 2012-2022, outpacing national trends. A 500-acre data center could tip the scales, risking blackouts as the IURC approves utility spending with little oversight. Hoosiers suffer most. Low-income families, spending 7% of income on power, face disconnections — 13% lost electricity last year. A growing shortfall and data center boom could worsen this, with no summer shutoff protections. NIPSCO’s $2 billion renewable plan and $769 million in grid upgrades offer slim relief against rate hikes. The General Assembly favors Big Tech with subsidies, cutting efficiency programs like Energizing Indiana.
This is a bad deal. Indiana shouldn’t sacrifice residents for tech’s experiments. A data center moratorium could assess grid strain and prioritize people over profits. Tech firms should build on-site solar or wind, not just buy credits. The IURC must reject rate hikes unless utilities prove affordability isn’t sacrificed for corporate gain. Jobs and prestige from a data center don’t justify plunging Hoosiers into a deeper energy crisis — 20% short now, maybe 25% soon, with soaring bills. Tech can innovate; everyday folks can’t. Indiana’s leaders must decide: boost Silicon Valley or protect residents. I choose the latter — before the lights go out.
Reagan Templin
Leesburg, via email