Data Center Disperse: More are Likely for Indiana
STATEWIDE — Indiana has become one of the key areas of the country in the development of data centers.
As a guest on WIBC’s “Tony Katz and the Morning News” Monday, Gerry Dick from Inside Indiana Business said there are already data centers in the state and more will be coming in, it’s just unknown where the new ones will be placed.
“These data centers are happening and they’re going to happen,” Dick said. “The question is what communities and what regions of the country are going to accept them and want them to be a part of their community.”
Indiana currently has 72 data centers which is 30% more than what the state had in March.
There’s a proposal for a significant data center in Franklin Township in Indianapolis that has seen increased opposition from the Indianapolis City-County Council. A council vote on that proposed project from Google is expected for Monday, September 22.
There has also been resistance to data center plans in Hancock and Kosciusko County. Residents there cited the elimination of farmland as one of their biggest concerns.
“We’re seeing, increasingly, this battle between communities and big tech play out and it’s certainly not over, it may be just beginning,” Dick added.
Other concerns raised by opponents to the centers include the environmental impact and potential rise in electricity costs. Data centers use a lot of energy to power it and water to cool it.
Dick believes Indiana is an attractive place for these technology companies to bring their data centers to because of certain incentives like a tax abatement. Indiana lawmakers did pass legislation to try and make the state more competitive against other states like Ohio and Virginia that have hundreds of data centers already.
“It’s more attractive to do business here, that’s why the interest is here,” said Dick.
Aside from Google’s attempt to build a center in Marion County, Amazon and Meta have started on projects for their data centers in northern and southern Indiana.
