Indiana consumer and environmental advocacy organization Citizens Action Coalition (CAC) has called for a pause on new hyperscale data center development in the state.

The group this week called on the Indiana General Assembly to enact a moratorium on new hyperscale data centers used to power artificial intelligence and commence a task force to study what policies should be adopted prior to lifting the moratorium.

Meta indiana jeffersonville
Meta has a campus in development in Jeffersonville – Meta

CAC also filed testimony at the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (URC) calling on the IURC to adopt Indiana Michigan Power Company’s (I&M) proposed changes to its tariff applicable to data centers, as well as implement additional consumer protections.

“Hoosiers must be fully protected from the rapacious resource needs, massive tax subsidies, and extraordinary utility cost burden associated with these facilities that could lead to skyrocketing utility bills across Indiana,” said Kerwin Olson, CAC’s executive director.

“Keeping old, uneconomic, and dirty coal plants open longer, as has been heavily lobbied by an increasingly desperate coal industry, would only exacerbate the challenge,” Olson added. “It would require large rate increases on existing customers, generate more pollution and toxic coal ash, threaten reliability, and scare away prospective economic development from companies looking to locate where they have access to affordable and clean energy.”

The CAC also noted each project could receive billions of dollars in subsidies due to tax exemption policies introduced in 2019, “before the dramatic rise in hyperscaler data centers needed to power AI.”

“Hyperscaler data centers are the single biggest threat to affordability, reliability, and environmental sustainability in Indiana this decade,” added Ben Inskeep, CAC program director. “We need to press pause on new data centers that pose enormous risks and develop policies that protect Hoosiers instead of throwing away billions in subsidies to Big Tech companies already worth trillions of dollars.”

While not traditionally a major data center market, Indiana has seen a number of large campus projects proposed in the state in recent months. Amazon, Microsoft, and Google have all announced major campus projects in Indiana this year. Meta, US Signals, DataBank, Netrality, and Digital Crossroads also have a presence in Indiana.

Founded in 1974, CAC advocates on issues around energy policy, utility reform, health care, pollution prevention, and family farms. It said it aims to support action to improve the quality of life in Indiana; preserving democracy, conserving natural resources, protecting the environment, and providing affordable access to essential services.

The group has a campaign claiming data center build-out in the state creates “unprecedented risk” to Hoosiers. The group is concerned about the energy use of so many new large-scale campuses and the impact on residents’ energy bills as well as potential negative effects on the air and climate, along with water use.