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Indiana is at a crossroads. Electricity demand is skyrocketing, driven by a surge in data centers, the onshoring of manufacturing and a growing economy. These are all exciting developments that will give Hoosiers more opportunities, with momentum spurred by state leadership and only expected to accelerate under the new administration. Unfortunately, our power grid is rapidly aging, and traditional power plants are coming to the end of their life cycles. Without action, we face rising costs, reliability challenges and an uncertain energy future.
For Hoosiers, this isn’t just an abstract policy debate. This is a reality already hitting our wallets. Utility bills keep rising, and we’re still being told that keeping the lights on will require even more rate hikes. Over the past year, rate hearing after rate hearing has been in the news as utilities struggle to keep energy affordable under the current regulatory regime. Something isn’t working.
But the truth is this isn’t just an energy problem. It’s a governance problem.
We have let a patchwork of government regulations—not market forces—determine Indiana’s energy future. In county after county, landowners seeking to lease their property for energy development are met with unnecessary red tape, political grandstanding and outright bans. Hoosiers who want to provide for their families by leasing land for energy projects—whether solar, wind or battery storage—are being told no, not because their plans violate any laws but because some local officials have decided to block them.
I have seen it firsthand. At a county zoning meeting last year, landowners and a clean energy developer sat through five hours of testimony, presenting a project that met every county requirement. They had done everything right. Yet when it came time to vote, board members sat in awkward silence, unwilling to support the project, even though it followed the very rules they had put in place the year before. With no second to the motion, the project was denied. Thunderous applause erupted from opponents, but on the other side of the room, a family watched as their property rights and their economic opportunity were stripped away by government overreach.
This is not conservatism.
At the heart of conservative values is the principle that individuals have the right to use their property as they see fit. That principle isn’t just a talking point; it’s fundamental to who we are as Americans. Yet, across Indiana, we’ve let a growing web of restrictions undermine that right. We fought for “local control” in energy siting, but instead of protecting liberty, many counties have used it to impose near-total bans on development. That’s not limited government; it’s just government overreach closer to home.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Indiana has an opportunity to cut the red tape and unleash the free market. We should make it easier, not harder, for private investment to meet our growing energy needs. We should make it easier, not harder, for Hoosiers to use their property to provide for their families. That means reforming zoning policies, streamlining permitting and ensuring that energy projects are judged on their merits.
This is the conservative solution. Free markets, competition and property rights have always driven American prosperity. If we unleash these forces in our energy sector, we can meet demand, lower costs and secure a future where Indiana businesses and families have access to secure, affordable, reliable power.
The question before us is simple: Do we trust the free market?
For Indiana’s economy, property rights and affordable energy, let’s make the right choice.•
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Jones is executive director of the Indiana Conservative Alliance for Energy.
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