Twenty-seven public interest groups are urging communities across Indiana to put a moratorium on new data center construction until safeguards can be put in place.
Citizens Action Coalition, Stop Duneland and Valpo/Wheeler Data Centers, Just Transition Northwest Indiana, the Hoosier Environmental Council, Hoosier Action and other groups are calling on local governments around the Hoosier State to halt all development, permitting and construction of new data centers until policies and regulations are put in place. The groups are asking local governments to pause to listen to constituents, evaluate the impact of such developments, determine if they want to allow data center developments and put in zoning and permitting regulations to protect residents.
“AI data centers are the number one threat to utility affordability, reliability, and environmental sustainability in Indiana,” Citizens Action Coalition Program Director Ben Inskeep said. “Elected officials should ensure that there are adequate rules in place to protect their constituents from the extremely harmful impacts that a data center can impose on a community.”
So far, 13 Indiana counties have either put moratoriums on or outright prohibited data centers as a flood of new projects have been brought forward. More than 60 large data center developments have been proposed in Indiana over the last few years to meet growing demand from artificial intelligence. Data centers are being pursued in Hammond, Hobart and Michigan City but have been rejected in other Northwest Indiana communities, including Valparaiso, Burns Harbor, Chesterton and Union Township in Porter County.
Residents have voiced a number of concerns, including about electric use, utility affordability, noise, pollution, water use, the cost of subsidies, the toll on public health, property values, long-term strain on infrastructure and a lack of transparency.
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