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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA string of Big Tech companies announced plans this year for large-scale data centers around the state, prompting pushback from a consumer advocacy group that is concerned about the amount of electricity these facilities will consume.
The largest announcement came from Amazon Web Services, which in April said it would invest $11 billion to build a data center in New Carlisle, about 10 miles west of South Bend, that would create about 1,000 jobs.
Google made a data center announcement in April, saying it would invest $2 billion in southeast Fort Wayne. In June, Gov. Eric Holcomb announced that Microsoft would build a $1 billion data center in La Porte. And in January, Meta Platforms announced plans for an $800 million project in Jeffersonville.
The wave of announcements comes in the wake of a data-center-specific economic development incentive the Indiana General Assembly passed in 2019. Companies approved for the incentive qualify for tax exemptions that can be locked in for up to 50 years, potentially saving hundreds of millions of dollars over that period.
But the recent data center activity is also drawing scrutiny.
In October, the Citizens Action Coalition asked the Legislature to enact a moratorium on new large-scale data centers.
Data centers are filled with computers, servers and cooling systems that run around the clock, using huge amounts of electricity.
The CAC has said it is worried that this will strain the state’s electrical infrastructure and lead to “skyrocketing utility bills” as utility providers scale up their systems to deal with the increased demand. The CAC has also expressed concerns that the data centers qualify for “massive tax subsidies” relative to the number of jobs the projects will create.•
Check out more year-in-review stories from 2024.
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