Data centers are poised to pump billions in investment into Northwest Indiana and bring relatively few but highly technical and highly paying tech jobs.
But they've faced more pushback in many communities than nearly any other type of development in Northwest Indiana, which is home to heavy industrial facilities that are among the biggest polluters in the country.
Drive down West 61st Avenue, for instance, into Hobart and yard sign after yard sign says "no data centers." Residents have turned out en masse to public hearings across Northwest Indiana to voice their concerns. Facebook is filled with comments and criticisms about data center projects proposed to Northwest Indiana.
Protestors and officials both say location drives much of the resistance to data centers, though economic development officials also point to the newness, believing some fears may fade when people get more used to data centers, collections of computer servers that power the internet and the rising use of artificial intelligence.
While data centers have come under fire for heavy use of power, water and resources, many of the concerns local protestors have expressed focus on issues about data centers being in their backyards, such as concerns about noise, light, vibrations and property values.
Officials said projects would fare better if proposed for industrial or otherwise isolated sites that don't abut residential neighborhoods, schools or quiet rural areas without much large-scale development.
"The building trades does share the concerns of the citizens on location," Northwestern Indiana Building & Construction Trades Council Business Manager Randy Palmateer said. "People are understandably concerned if they're building them next to schools or neighborhoods, but these projects mean a lot of good-paying jobs for our union men and women in the building trades. They're a shot in the arm for the economy of Northwest Indiana."
Datacentermap.com estimates more than 70 data centers operate in Indiana, including in Hammond and Portage. The blocky warehouse-like buildings flew under the radar for years, but have become more prominent as developers rush to meet skyrocketing demand from AI. The commercial real estate firm CBRE estimates the number of data center projects nationally more than doubled last year, with more than 6,350 MW under construction in primary markets at the end of last year.
Jones Lang LaSalle, a Chicago-based global real estate firm, reports that data center developers already have acquired more than 3,000 acres of land and are likely to build more than $30 billion worth of data centers in Northwest Indiana in the coming years, as soon as NIPSCO can bring enough new electric capacity online.
However, proposed projects, often promising hundreds of millions of dollars in new investment, have met resistance in Chesterton, Burns Harbor, Valparaiso and unincorporated Union Township. QTS Data Centers proposed a $2 billion data center in Union Township that engendered so much public concern a neighborhood meeting had to be moved to the Porter County Expo Center to accommodate everyone. Residents were especially concerned with it being so close to Wheeler High School.
Severin Fisher, who canvassed door-to-door against proposed data centers in Porter County, said he wasn't opposed to them and believes they were needed, but has concerns about them being built so close to residences and schools, especially out in quiet rural areas. He said he and most of the people he talked to had concerns about public health, property values and a lack of vetting.
Data center projects have faced resistance across the state. Kosciusko County rejected a proposal to rezone 554 acres for a data center in April after more than 2,000 people signed a petition opposing the project. A $1 billion data center planned in Franklin Township in Marion County also faces vocal public opposition.
Michigan City also has been hesitant regarding plans to pursue a proposed $832 million data center project at this time. Michigan City Mayor Angie Nelson Deuitch expressed concerns that it would only create an estimated 30 jobs and that no assurances were offered about tax revenue or community reinvestment.
Hammond is considering a $7 billion expansion of the Digital Crossroad data center at the former State Line Generating Plant site on Lake Michigan. The remote area, ringed off by railroad tracks and power lines, is ideal for a data center since there are no neighbors to remonstrate, Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. said.
Merrillville is looking at three projects that would bring $2 billion in investment, first having a committee of town officials, businesspeople and concerned representatives review projects and guidelines.
"It goes down to the old adage: location, location and location," Town Council President Rick Bella said. "Data centers here are not going to impact residential areas. The three sites in Merrillville also are in separate areas where they're not going to impact business, commercial or residential. I think that's the key. In Valparaiso, they had problems because the site was right next to a huge neighborhood. That's not the right site for a data center. In Merrillville, ours are welcome because no one's living nearby."
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