IN — Power Infrastructure Updated 2026-07-17

Indiana

MISO/PJM Queue Bottlenecks

1. Grid operator and market structure

  • RTO/ISO coverage: Indiana is split between PJM and MISO. Indiana Michigan Power (I&M) operates within PJM, while most Indiana utilities operate in MISO; both systems therefore matter for data-center load, resource adequacy, and transmission planning (Indiana Michigan Power, 2025-03-28).
  • Retail and regulatory structure: Indiana remains a vertically integrated, state-regulated retail market rather than a broad retail-choice market. Large loads are therefore being addressed through utility tariffs, customer-specific contracts, generation plans, and IURC cost-recovery proceedings as well as RTO planning (U.S. Energy Information Administration, accessed 2026-07-17; IURC Cause No. 46322 final order, 2026-06-17).
  • State energy plan recognizes a changed load outlook: Indiana’s 2026 Strategic Energy Growth Plan identifies queue congestion and possible regional capacity shortfalls beginning around 2030, warns against socializing infrastructure costs caused by individual large-load customers, and calls for transparent cost allocation and faster development of generation and transmission (Indiana Office of Energy Development, accessed 2026-07-17).

2. Interconnection queue and large-load integration reforms

  • Generator queues are not load queues: PJM and MISO generator-interconnection processes govern new supply resources; Indiana data centers ordinarily appear instead in utility service requests, forecasts, special contracts, transmission studies, and local permits. Queue reform still affects whether replacement generation can arrive in time to serve large-load growth (PJM, accessed 2026-07-17; MISO, accessed 2026-07-17).
  • FERC opened a nationwide large-load tariff review: On June 18, FERC ordered all six jurisdictional RTOs/ISOs, including MISO and PJM, to justify or reform tariff rules covering large-load applications and studies, cost allocation and transparency, co-location and behind-the-meter arrangements, flexible service, and study of nearby generation. The proceeding creates a 60-day response deadline but did not itself establish a final Indiana interconnection rule by July 17 (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 2026-06-18).
  • MISO’s large-load work remained under development: MISO’s framework addresses timely notification, coordinated load-addition studies, and transmission-service paths; its proposed Firm Service Step-Up would permit qualifying large loads to begin with partial firm service before all network upgrades are complete. These were active regional reforms, not yet a final Indiana-specific tariff outcome at the cutoff (MISO large-load additions, accessed 2026-07-17; MISO Firm Service Step-Up, updated 2026-06-01).
  • SEA 240 addresses unused interconnection capacity: The 2026 law requires Indiana utilities to evaluate unused interconnection capacity and directs the IURC to study surplus interconnection service for a report to lawmakers in 2027; implementation had begun, but no final IURC rule or statewide tariff existed by July 17 (Indiana Senate Republicans, 2026-04-14).

3. IURC large-load tariffs, contracts, and cost allocation

NIPSCO / Amazon (Causes 46322 and 46362) — approved June 17

  • Customer contract and 2.4 GW ramp approved: The IURC approved the NIPSCO/Amazon settlement and customer contract in Cause 46322. Service begins January 1, 2027 and ramps to 2,400 MW by the end of 2032 under a 15-year term; fixed-capacity and pass-through charges, collateral, a parent guarantee, and early-termination protections are designed to assign the project’s costs and risks to Amazon (IURC Cause No. 46322 final order, 2026-06-17).
  • Dedicated 3 GW resource portfolio approved: In companion Cause 46362, the Commission found reasonable and necessary a portfolio of two 1,300 MW combined-cycle gas facilities at the Schahfer site and a 400 MW battery energy-storage system at Sugar Creek. Under the approved structure, Amazon bears the portfolio’s costs rather than NIPSCO’s existing retail customers (IURC Cause No. 46362 final order, 2026-06-17).
  • Claimed customer benefit remains a utility projection: NiSource said the two approvals are projected to produce approximately $1.4 billion in savings for existing NIPSCO customers over the contract term. That figure is a company forecast embedded in the approved framework, not a realized or independently audited saving (NiSource, 2026-06-23).

NIPSCO / Google Project Maize (Cause 46393) — pending

  • Separate Michigan City filing: NIPSCO filed a customer-specific contract, purchased-power agreement, and related resource approvals on April 16 for Google’s Project Maize in Michigan City. The IURC held an evidentiary hearing June 26; no final order had been issued by July 17, so this proceeding must not be described as approved (NIPSCO legal notices, 2026-04-16; IURC hearings list, 2026-06-22).

AES Indiana / Google Monrovia (Cause 46394) — pending

  • Contract and proposed resources: AES filed a 15-year minimum customer-specific contract on April 22 for an initial 390 MW Google load in Monrovia. AES says Google would pay the costs of serving the campus and associated infrastructure; it projects $1.3 billion in energy-infrastructure investment and more than $770 million in benefits to other customers over 15 years. Those projections and the contract remained subject to IURC approval (AES Indiana, 2026-04-22; AES Indiana pending cases, accessed 2026-07-17).
  • Consumer advocate objections remain unresolved: Citizens Action Coalition testimony urged the Commission to require Google to cover all attributable upgrades, its full contracted power obligation and early-exit costs, and to increase transparency. Evidentiary hearings were scheduled for August 5-6, after this cutoff (Citizens Action Coalition, 2026-06-22).

Indiana Michigan Power large-load framework and resources

  • Data Center Power tariff remains operative: The IURC-approved I&M tariff requires long contract terms, minimum demand commitments, collateral and exit fees for qualifying large loads, including data centers. It is intended to limit stranded-cost transfers but does not eliminate the need for project-specific resource and rate review (IURC Cause No. 46097 final order, 2025-02-19).
  • Expedited Generation Resource Plan approved: In Cause 46301, the IURC approved I&M’s plan to pursue up to 3,000 MW of dispatchable generation and 1,500 MW of clean resources in response to rapid large-load growth. The order authorized procurement steps, not blanket recovery: later Generation Resource Subdocket filings remain subject to cost and rate review (IURC Cause No. 46301 final order, 2026-01-28).
  • First resource subdocket filed: I&M filed its first Generation Resource Subdocket on April 30; it remained a pending implementation proceeding rather than a completed buildout at the cutoff (IURC weekly filings list, 2026-05-04).
  • Google demand-response arrangement approved: The IURC approved tariff changes enabling the Fort Wayne Google data center to reduce load when called, providing a project-specific example of flexible large-load service. Approval of demand response does not resolve the separate long-term generation and transmission needs in I&M’s forecast (Data Center Dynamics, 2026-04-30; IURC utility articles, 2026-03-31).

4. Utility load forecasts and resource planning

5. Affordability, reliability, and emerging supply policy

  • Statewide affordability inquiry: After a March 24 public hearing and more than 2,000 comments, the IURC issued 16 recommendations and on July 15 opened two new investigations into utilities’ allowed return on equity and bill trackers. These proceedings are not limited to data centers, but they form the broader rate-affordability context for large-load cost allocation; the new inquiries were targeted for recommendations by year-end, not yet decided (IURC investigative inquiry page, accessed 2026-07-17; WFYI, 2026-07-15).
  • HEA 1002 is broader than data centers: The 2026 law adds performance-based ratemaking and other affordability provisions, but it did not enact the failed data-center-specific cost-allocation bills. Existing customer protection therefore depends heavily on IURC review of each tariff, contract, and resource plan (Indiana Public Radio, 2026-04-06; WFYI, 2026-03-02).
  • Nuclear-ready community program: Indiana launched an Advanced Nuclear Ready Community program on July 16 to help local governments identify candidate sites and prepare for possible nuclear development, explicitly linking the initiative in part to rapid electricity-demand growth from data centers. It is a siting/readiness program, not approval or construction of a reactor (Indiana Office of Energy Development, accessed 2026-07-17; Indiana Public Radio, 2026-07-16).

6. Water, air, and community impacts tied to energy infrastructure

  • AWS / New Carlisle wetlands: Amazon’s revised IDEM application seeks authorization to permanently affect 4.94 acres of wetlands and 3,986 linear feet of streams at the New Carlisle campus. Residents and environmental advocates opposed the request at a July 8 hearing; no final certification was located by July 17. The environmental permit remains distinct from the IURC’s approval of the energy contract (IDEM public hearing notice, 2026-06-03; ABC57, 2026-07-09; IURC Cause No. 46322 final order, 2026-06-17).
  • Google / Monrovia air permit: Google’s application described 166 diesel emergency generators, fuel storage, and cooling equipment; potential nitrogen-oxide emissions triggered an IDEM air-quality permit process. Approval of AES’s electric-service contract would not substitute for these environmental permits (Morgan County Correspondent, 2026-03-12).
  • Google / Monrovia construction and water concerns: Site construction was underway by June. A Morgan County Soil and Water Conservation District supervisor estimated likely demand at approximately 8 million gallons per day and warned about long-run White River watershed constraints, while Google and county officials maintained that sufficient supply exists; no independent final water-demand finding was located (Morgan County Correspondent, 2026-06-04).
  • Google / Fort Wayne Phase III: IDEM issued Water Quality Certification WQC001454 on June 5 for three additional Project Zodiac buildings and associated infrastructure, authorizing conditional relocation or impact of 3,415 linear feet of Adams Ditch, 68 linear feet of a tributary, and 0.84 acre of forested wetland with specified mitigation (IDEM Water Quality Certification WQC001454, HEC mirror, 2026-06-05).
  • Project Louie water-quality review: IDEM held a March 19 public hearing on a Section 401 water-quality certificate for Project Louie, reflecting continuing scrutiny of wetland and water impacts alongside energy-demand review (Hoosier Environmental Council, 2026-03-16).
  • Local infrastructure constraints changed projects: Washington ended negotiations with Outrigger after a proposal that could have used up to one million gallons of water per day at peak, while Sullivan County residents raised road, construction, and quality-of-life concerns around the Heartland buildout (Indiana Public Media, 2026-05-12; WTHI, 2026-05-20).

Notes on methodology

  • Sources were prioritized from IURC orders and filings, FERC, MISO, PJM, Indiana agencies, utilities, and dated local reporting.
  • “Approved,” “pending,” and “proposed” refer to status as of 2026-07-17; utility and developer savings or investment estimates are labeled as projections.