Another data center proposal is meeting public pushback in Porter County.
A developer has proposed a new data center in unincorporated Union Township about five miles outside of Portage city limits near the Wheeler landfill, Portage Mayor Austin Bonta said. Residents and school officials worry the developer is looking into rezoning farmland near Wheeler High School and Union Township Middle School.
Several people spoke out against the data center proposal at the Porter County Redevelopment Commission and Porter County Council meetings earlier this week, even though it was not on the agenda and no concrete proposal has yet been made public.
Public interest is so strong the Porter County Plan Commission might set up a meeting at the Porter County Expo Center to accommodate the number of people expected to attend, Porter County Council Member Andrew Bozak said.
"From what I gather from watching some of the past meetings in other communities and from what I see on social media, people are not on board. Now in all fairness, the county has not had a public meeting in regard to this data center yet. At that time, there may be people that come out for the data center," he said. "But so far, the only thing I have seen is people do not want it near their homes, their parks, their schools or taking over farmland."
Several data center projects have been flooding into Northwest Indiana amid a rise in the use of artificial intelligence and other data. Chicago-based JLL estimates data centers could invest up to $30 billion in Northwest Indiana, which would be one of the largest industry infusions of capital since the steel mills were built along the Lake Michigan lakefront.
Valparaiso, Chesterton and Burns Harbor have rejected data center proposals after residents there spoke out against them over a variety of concerns, including property values, noise and energy consumption.
Bonta said he's keeping an eye on the proposal given its proximity to the city.
"As the mayor, I can see the value, but the question is where are the appropriate places," he said. "Residents have expressed concerns about proximity to schools and, ironically, there not being data about the long-term effects."
Resident Melissa Reed, who became active about the issue after a developer proposed building a new data center on Ind. 49 next to her subdivision just outside Valparaiso city limits, said data centers consume so much power they should be considered heavy industrial instead of light industrial. She would like the county to put a 180-day moratorium on data centers and come up with rules for where they should be located.
"They should never be by schools, homes, hospitals or farmland," she said. "This county needs to protect us. This can happen to anybody tomorrow. Wheeler's tiny. They might think they're getting a Walgreen's that spits money at them but what they're getting is the Mall of America."
Severin Fisher canvassed door-to-door against the Valparaiso data center. He said he's not opposed to data centers and sees the need, but is concerned with where they will be located and if existing NIPSCO customers will be forced to pay higher rates for electricity for them.
Fisher said he wouldn't mind if they built a data center seven to 10 miles away but would not want to see one built so close to residents or schools. He said most of the people he spoke to while going door-to-door were concerned with their health, pocketbooks, general well-being and how well the companies and locations were being vetted.
Data centers generate tax revenue but not many jobs, Fisher said.
"People are worried about their NIPSCO bills, the noise, the environment, the low frequencies and the lights," he said. "People move out here because it doesn't feel like a city. "You can tell where Westville is or Valpo is because there's a glow in the distance.
He would like to see rules be put in place about where data centers could locate.
"You could maybe put four of them where they're closing down the power plant. They normally should be in remote locations," he said. "Putting something in place would give the people peace of mind. Right now, they're going from town to town and city to city and terrifying people."
© Copyright 2025, nwitimes.com, Munster, IN