Data centers generate opposition across Indiana.

Competing political rallies draw thousands of Hoosiers, and researchers at Purdue aim to solve the mystery of Amelia Earhart 1937 disappearance from the television studios at Wfyi Public Media.

It's Indiana Week in Review for the week ending October 24th, 2025.

Indiana Week and Review is produced by Wfyi in association with Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations.

The country is experiencing a data center boom.

Dozens of the power hungry facilities are up and running in Indiana, and a slew of additional projects worth billions of dollars are in the works.

While some elected officials welcome the surge as much needed economic development, many Hoosiers are pushing back, fueled by concerns about potential effects on the environment, property values and utility rates.

That opposition is forcing some tech giants to rethink where they should build.

Bryce Gustafson is an organizer with Citizens Action Coalition, which helps communities organize around issues like power usage.

He says opposition to data centers has quickly mounted across the state, and it's bringing people together from both sides of the political aisle.

Everybody wants access to drinking water.

Everybody wants affordable utility bills.

Everybody wants to feel like their voice matters in their community.

Gustafson says at least 11 data center proposals have been withdrawn across Indiana this year, as residents push back on tech companies plans to build.

The latest was Google's proposal for a massive data center campus in Franklin Township, on the south side of Marion County.

But in Morgan County, local commissioners approved two rezoning request for a data center opposed by some residents.

That report comes from Farrah Anderson, by the way.

Give credit where credit is due.

Should data centers be viewed as an economic development gain or a burgeoning pain for homeowners already reeling from sky-high electric bills?

More important, how will Indiana navigate this highly charged debate?

It's the first question for our Indiana Week in Review panel.

Democrat, Lara Beck Republican, Chris Mitchem Ebony Chapel, Director of Brand and Community Strategy at Free Press Indiana And Jill Sheridan, Managing Editor at WFYI Public Media I'm Jon Schwantes, host of Indiana Lawmakers and interim host of Indiana Week in Review Laura, economic engine or community threat or somewhere in the middle?

Well.

I mean, I think I mean, I think data centers are really complicated.

I think we all can agree on that.

And one of the things I think is really fascinating about the entire discussion is I feel like we're building the plane while we're landing it.

Right.

So we have AI, we have this incredibly powerful tool holding up my phone, but we have this incredibly powerful tool that everyone is using.

We have all of these massive data centers that are required.

And at the same time, A.I.

is just booming in our economy in a way that is unprecedented and we haven't seen in modern history.

So there are a lot of complications, right?

You know, utilities have to serve all of their customers, and they also have to plan.

But if everything is coming in so incredibly quickly, how do you plan for that?

Right.

And then consumers are bearing consumers are bearing the costs of higher energy, higher water costs.

But when you build a data center, that's those are great construction jobs for the construction and construction industry.

And some of those are unions.

Some of those are nonunion, but particular in those communities.

So I think you have to take a look at it from a very holistic perspective, as opposed to piecemeal it all together.

Now in Indiana, do we have the will and the political ability to do that right now?

I don't know if we do, but I think we would be well-served to take those steps now as opposed to having these incredibly divisive fights, when in reality we can probably find a common ground to help us really succeed in the economy because we have all of the building blocks here in Indiana to do just that.

Well, it sure is a trend that we're seeing.

Booming is the right word, I suppose 5400 roughly in the United States, about 75, give or take, here in Indiana.

our neighbors on an east and west have fair number more.

Are we in the right place at the right time to catch this wave?

Yeah, it's a relatively new idea, right?

Like, even within the past five years, you're talking about how much energy these use.

You would think that they would be.

Next year for me, by the way.

So.

Sure.

So we'll back up.

Those ChatGPT and everything else.

But, you know, one of the investor owned utilities in Indiana recently came out and said that with the planned developments we have in the next five years, we expect to double our total generating capacity from.

Since we first started operating in Indiana, over 100 years ago.

Like five years, you're going to double everything that you've been serving over the since you started serving Indiana.

Like, that's the kind of scale we're talking about with these kind of buildings.

So I think Indiana, you know, it's kind of in a sweet spot when it comes to the legislature passing guidance like they did last year.

That pretty much said, hey, if you are one of these really large, energy generator or, excuse me, energy user facilities, you have to bring an assurance that you're going to reimburse at least 80% of the cost that goes with this.

And then you've seen in different communities, they've actually been offering to reimburse upwards of 90%, even over 100%, to try to meet, Indiana's goal, led by Governor Brian, of trying to be an energy exporter.

Right.

And I think that is important because the Indiana legislature sets the policy, and then it puts all of the onus on these energy developers to go into the community and sell yourself.

Right.

We're not going to force these things on you each.

Each community is different.

You just saw in, you know, Morgan County, they rebuffed one.

But then you also have, especially in southern Indiana, a lot of counties saying, hey, come down to us, we'll take you.

We need the economic development.

We need the property tax revenue.

So I think they're, you know, the the policy in of itself is in a pretty sweet spot right now when it comes to you have to go into these communities and sell yourself, and tell them why, you know, your, your, the infrastructure improvements and how you're going to, try to mitigate some of these environmental factors.

You know, some communities certainly love them, some don't, and some are effective in blocking these.

I saw some data from data Center Watch, which I admit is an organization I didn't know existed until this week, but it says some $64 billion in projects have either been derailed or delayed by local community opposition.

That's a that's a lot of opposition and a lot of places.

Is this ultimately a local issue, and if so, how does it play with locals in Indiana?

Yeah, I think that it should be a local issue.

To Christopher's point, I think that it's important that communities have an opportunity to speak up and let their voices be heard about what they do and do not want to live next to.

I want to give a huge shout out to Elizabeth, Gordon and, Darian Benson at Mirror Indy, who have Elizabeth Gabriel, excuse me, who have been extensively covering what's been happening in Indianapolis.

When you look at communities like Memphis, Tennessee, and you see what's going on, people having severe health outcomes where some of these data data centers are being built.

I think it's important that people pay attention, especially black and brown communities who are disproportionately impacted by industrialization, by not having a seat at the table when these things are presented.

So I think we really are somewhere in the middle, where it has a lot of opportunity for progress, but at what cost?

That's my.

Question.

There seems to be some consensus that local government is where these decisions should be made, but we've seen with other types of energy production and these are not energy producers.

But allow me the comparison here.

When we talk about solar arrays and wind farms and the turbines and so forth, you know, a lot of places the Nimby factor said, not here.

and there has been, legislation in the past several sessions to say, let's move this to the state level, where at least you know, we can get some of these important projects up and running, not only the projects themselves, but the transmission lines, that need to go in and out and across other jurisdictions and other municipalities.

So is this I'm going to give you a chance, a local, fundamental local issue, or is there a role for the state beyond what Chris already mentioned?

I think you're right.

I mean, so much is happening.

We are building the plane like it all has to happen.

We need state policy.

We need local policy.

It's been really interesting seeing like it be such a bipartisan issue, though, in, in that community push back and and seeing, you know, the community response about what they want in their backyards or not.

And that's been fun for me, you know, to see this issue, like, energize people and have people from all around the state get out.

of course, you know, there are concerns, you know, energy you mentioned, obviously, I think water probably is a big, big one in Indiana.

A lot of the rules areas are on wells as well.

And, and, so there are many, many you know, things that have to come together.

But, you know, these centers have been, you know, good for some communities.

Again, out West, as you mentioned, you know, a lot of smaller rural towns have really benefited, you know, is a tax structure.

Is that a little bit different in some different states?

We need to consider that as well.

I would imagine here in Indiana, but there's no stopping it.

So yeah, I mean it's really become part of that a major political issue.

I was looking at the governor's race is this next few weeks here in both, Virginia and New Jersey.

That's a key issue in those races.

And in those races, they sort of break down along the lines, Democrats generally saying, let's put the brakes on the Republican candidates, saying, bring them in economic development.

But it is bipartisan.

It cuts a lot of different ways.

And another shout out to my friends at the Data Watch Center, watch, more than they've ever been given on this show.

They say their analysis, 55% of the local elected officials who oppose these projects are Republicans.

They 10% more Republicans and Democrats, oppose these.

And I think that doesn't necessarily surprise me, because I think all politics is local.

And so if you regardless of whether you're in a blue or in a red city, if you're a county commissioner, for example, or you're a state representative or a city county councilor, you are going to be far more tied in to the local like, you know, the street committee, as you would say, you know, you're going to be tied far more into that than somebody is probably at the congressional level.

So it doesn't really surprise me.

And the other part is, too, is people who are concerned about the data center.

They're running into that local elected official at the coffee shop, or they're running into them while they're filling up their gas tank or at the school of that Facebook.

well, I mean, that's part of the problem.

Meta is part of our problem here.

But, you know, Facebook is partly contributing to the civil discourse in this country.

But, I really think that they are having those one on one conversations with people, and it's people who they know, and that a lot of times will tend to carry a lot more weight than an anonymous comment on Reddit.

Of course, this is shaping up to be a huge, political, very potent issue here.

And if so, who which party does it favorite?

How does it cut?

I think it could.

And I mean, to your point, I don't think it really favors one part of the other.

The other.

I guess if you're the Democrats, you can hope for something that could further, you know, put a wedge in some Republican alliances in the state House or whatever you may, however, you may think about it, but, I mean, you even heard some rhetoric from the executive branch and the Governor Braun's office.

I know, you know, the Secretary of energy recently came out and she was firmly in the camp of we should be encouraging not only trying to pass policies to attract these people who are building these data centers, but also really putting pressure on the local communities to build them and saying even going as far as saying, you know, we should try to pass the policy to make it easier.

So I think Governor Braun will have, as a leadership in his position, have a lot of sway on this, depending on where he is and kind of using the bully pulpit to to pass something.

If it comes to that, I do want to move on.

We got a lot to talk about, but this session is going to what we see much of a whoop they do about this, About data centers.

Yeah, I believe so.

I believe so, as has been discussed, is a very much a developing issue.

to your point, I do wonder, if this is a decision that Brian will actually make on his own or will he take his orders from up above so we shall see.

And the governor, these are hungry for for energy.

The governor has been touting, nuclear power.

Perdue has said there might be some possibilities there, as these things need more and more power.

Does this open the door?

Ironically, perhaps, to more wind power, more solar power, the very things that have been sort of disparaged or denigrated in some circles, our.

Resources are not finite.

I mean, we'll have to, like, be looking at all of these options if we are, you know, moving into.

Data centers could be environmentalist best friend before all is said and done.

Well, it'd be interesting to find out too.

Not to interrupt you, but are there companies who are located on the coasts or located in more, areas where they focus on sustainability that want to use renewable?

So how do you how do you manage that?

Lots of you on time.

Now for viewer feedback.

Each week we pose an unscientific online poll question.

This week's question are data centers bad for Indiana's communities?

Either yes or no?

Last week's question should the state pass more restrictive immigration legislation?

89% of you said no.

11% said yes.

If you would like to take part in the poll, go to fiy.org/i w I r and look for the poll.

Two high profile grassroots political movements are fighting for hearts and minds across the country.

Turning point USA is a right wing, campus based organization that supports the Trump administration and its agenda.

While no.

King's is a network of progressive organizations dedicated to blocking that agenda, recent events held under the group's respective banners attracted thousands of enthusiastic Hoosiers.

Eric Wedel reports.

The overriding theme of the no.

King's marches includes accusations that President Donald Trump is behaving more like a monarch than an elected official.

Thousands of people protested across Indiana on October 18th.

Many oppose the Trump administration's immigration policies and its push to redistrict Indiana's congressional map.

Days later, thousands attended a much different political scene in Bloomington.

Conservative media personality Tucker Carlson headlined a Turning Point USA tour stop at the IU auditorium.

Co-Founder Charlie Kirk was originally scheduled, but he was shot and killed at a university in Utah last month, Carlson says the MAGA movement needs to stay united after Kirk's passing, and as Democrats mobilize across the country.

Those people do not share my values at all.

Like at all.

And some of them not all.

Probably not most, but some of them are scary.

I don't want those people in charge again.

I saw what happened last time.

So like think big picture for a second.

Chris.

Hoosiers seem to be on opposite sides of an increasingly deep, increasingly wide chasm.

Is this just the way it is from now on, or do leaders have any obligation, to sort of look for unity or find common ground in some of these issues?

In an ideal world, yeah, you should be trying to do everything you can to bring people together and bring unity.

And I genuinely believe, you know, if you were to throw a group of people, especially Hoosiers, into a room and you hide the R, the D the next to their name and you bring up a topic, they're probably going to be able to find some common ground, because I just think, again, especially Hoosiers and just kind of a common sense way, we think you're going to come into an agreement.

I think, you know, illegal immigration.

going back to your question is probably a good point, right?

It's one of those things where it's like, we should probably respect the laws in the book that we have and put more resources towards a better legal immigration system.

But you have that issue, and, you know, you have one side saying that they hate all immigrants and anybody of color and the other the other side saying they're all criminals and killers are going to come in and take your jobs.

So, you know, a book I read recently, believe it or not, you know, said that the political mind, you know, is not rational.

It's emotional.

So anybody that tries to come out and be that centrist, I won't say moderate, but somebody that's trying to bring people together, you're not probably going to get 10,000 people at your rally, unfortunately.

You know, it's these people that are appealing to the emotions on both sides.

They're going to be getting a lot of the people, a lot of the energy.

And anybody that tries to be more centrist is going to have to fight against a machine that includes social media and being in a echo chamber.

And again, a post that is more moderate is not going to get the engagement that these far wings of other parties will be.

So you have to, you know, continue to fight against that.

And unfortunately, just with the political system, it is a way to wait.

It is today going to make it really difficult.

Yeah.

Fiery rhetoric.

Rhetoric does get the eyeballs, whether we're talking about television or digital communication.

So that exacerbates probably, the, the dichotomy or the polarization.

And when we see these issues, are we really in Indiana more divided than ever, or are we just is the volume been turned up on on these kinds of events which suggest we may be more at odds than we are?

Well, I have a couple thoughts on this.

And it goes back to what I said earlier about about Facebook.

I mean, I think outrage equals engagement.

That is what gets clicks.

That is where you're and you see it all across the board.

You see it on all sides.

Outrage equals engagement.

And when and what really has been interesting to me because I've been really sort of doing almost a deeper dive for myself into social media and how it impacts even my behavioral patterns.

I have had anecdotal conversations with a number of people in my age cohort who have said, I am no longer using social media the way I was using it before Charlie Kirk was assassinated, because the the comments and the posts I saw from people I know in favor or anti or whatever, it it opened a window into people that maybe you weren't expecting.

Right.

And I think people I my my sort of my litmus test always is would you come up to me in the Our Lady of Lourdes parking lot in Indianapolis, Indiana, and say what you just posted on Facebook?

No, you probably wouldn't.

So that's always my my litmus test.

If I can't say it to your face, then I'm not going to be posting something like that on Facebook or on Instagram or wherever or whatever people are using now, I don't know.

I do think that in Indiana, we probably have a lot more that unites us and divides us.

But when you are spending a disproportionate amount of your time in an echo chamber, or you're watching and you're consuming content on the news, for example, that is slanted in one way or another, you're you're just not having those opportunities for real conversations with people.

And I don't think, frankly, elected officials and I don't think other people really, really help that as well.

And it starts at the top and it goes down, you know, to the very, you know, not to the dog catcher, but to the school board member.

And I think after Covid, people are just people are just emboldened in a way.

And I work with a lot of elected officials.

They are emboldened in a way to communicate in just a very non civil discourse online.

And again, you wouldn't go to the city hall and say this to an elected official, but you're going to post this nasty thing on Facebook.

So I think we have a lot of work to do as a society is basically my point and starts with starts with me personally.

Yeah, Joe, we love we love journalists.

I'm speaking about abundance.

human beings love to keep score.

We need to know who's ahead in the horse race.

So when you look at events like over the past week that I alluded to, you had, what, 8000, supposedly a no King's rally in Fort Wayne, 6000 here in Indianapolis at the state House, you had a full house, roughly 3000, I think, at the no.

King's rally.

But then again, some of those people were probably there to antagonize, Tucker Carlson.

I don't know, can you discern who has the momentum right now and is that even appropriate to try to do these number counts?

I mean, I know I've covered many protests and rallies in my day, and, you know, these are some of the most well attended, protest rallies that I've seen.

And to see a packed house like that at the IU auditorium, I guess mostly it just tells me that, you know, people want to be heard, they want their voices to be heard, and for them to actually get off of their phones and head on out, you know, to, to make their voices heard.

I mean, I think that that is important and that we see that, you know, there is hopefully an opportunity there.

And I agree, like in a place like Indiana, you know, maybe there's a little bit more opportunity for civil discourse like you mentioned.

Maybe, you know, there are people that are trying to prepare that place, you know, what is that place?

I don't know where we can actually have an engaging conversation with people speaking to each other civilly.

I mean, I agree there's a lot of work, but I think there's hope, too.

And I. Love the optimism.

People get out there.

All right.

Ebony, simple question.

Easy question for you.

Where do we go from here as a state?

I love that you think this is an easy question.

I don't I'm just being facetious.

I want you to.

Know I. Think I'd give you a softball.

well, my thoughts on this really go, first to the First Amendment.

I think one of the things that is missing, in this conversation, as far as, like, what leaders should do and can do in this moment, and I think that is to champion the protection of the First Amendment.

This country was born of discord.

So chasms and political differences is literally a part of the fabric of our nation.

And I think it can be a useful tool to Jill's point, the fact that you have thousands of people, especially at a time where you could lose your job based off of what you think about a topic, that has nothing to do with your profession, but just you expressing your opinion, your grievances.

You could lose your job there are people that are willing to risk that on whatever side of the spectrum, you know, they land to go out and to let their voices be heard.

But we are dealing with a situation where there is a certain group of people that are allowed to do that, and there is another group of people that are constantly being chastised and being put in, you know, different sort of predicaments because of their thought.

So I think that is a really big thing that we can champion right now.

Also, if we could ever do anything about hate speech, I think that would be great if we could figure that part out.

Well, and this issue isn't going anywhere, because the courts will be taking up the issue of whether public employees can be fired for these types of things.

There's a case out of your alma mater, I believe, Ball State, that, that looks at that.

Very.

Which.

So far asleep on this issue, there's more more to come.

I think there was any chance of that, I'm sure in just a couple of weeks, researchers from Purdue University will embark on an expedition to study the possible wreckage of Amelia Earhart's long lost airplane.

Earhart was an advisor at Purdue, and the university's research foundation paid for the Lockheed Electra that she used in her 1937 attempt to become the first woman to fly around the world.

A 15 person team will travel to an island in the South Pacific to determine if an image found on satellite imagery is indeed Earhart's plane.

President Donald Trump said recently that he would order the release of any remaining classified documents concerning the aviator's disappearance.

Most of what the government knows about the incident is already public.

Jill, 88 years like I was in college.

And when I remember reading the headlines about Amelia's disappearance, what are we going to get out of this and why is it important?

Oh my gosh, if they found some of the plane, this would be huge for Purdue.

I mean, this is one of the biggest mysteries, American mysteries, you know, up there with find, you know, it's.

More.

Yes, it would be enormous.

it's so interesting that they haven't already because the most of the major researchers, and all of the information has been released, pretty much, from my understanding, talking to some of these researchers, I agree that it probably is this island, but they haven't been able to find that smoking gun.

But, if they find the parts of the plane, it won't be a. Best case scenario for Purdue.

Jimmy Hoffa is in the wreckage.

Of, Along, there's an alien in there and an.

Alien from Roswell.

Yeah.

Yes.

Yeah.

And Bigfoot is.

Right.

The Epstein files are.

That's not.

That's my point, Laura.

The government knows the files we really want to see.

We need to just let Amelia Earhart rest in peace.

Let her rest.

Well, the president has talked about made a big show about the same time that this expedition was announced that we're going to declassify everything.

And I think most experts say Bill Clinton pretty much did that.

And, back, well, not 88 years ago, but a number of years ago.

Is this grandstanding?

And what does Donald Trump hope to get out of this?

It is absolutely grandstanding.

And I think what he hopes to get is an opportunity to appease the people who are waiting on the other files.

He told them it would be released.

So I think this is a little nugget hold you over and then maybe you'll forget about this other thing I told you I would tell you about.

But now I've decided I'm not going to.

So this this is an unmitigated win for Purdue.

Obviously, if they find it's good, if they don't, they still tried.

And we should point out this is funded by two foundations the Research Foundation of Purdue and an archeological foundation.

I think based out of New York.

So this is not public tax dollars going on for research, but big win if this happened.

Yes, the big win just for everybody.

I mean, not only is this an Indiana specific Purdue kind of quasi specific issue, but it's an issue that, you know, I learned about growing up in school and it's like, where did where did she go?

Yeah, I don't know.

It's a great question.

And whenever you're studying things like that and you don't have an answer, that's really rare.

I feel like especially in today's world of technology and, everything that's going on that you still have these unanswered questions.

So I think a lot of credit has to go to them.

But also just the technology of being able to identify something from a satellite, which is why I think they did it.

And now they're going to be able to go and expand upon that.

It's just a she's an awesome story.

Given all this love for Purdue, I feel the need to put a plug in for IU football.

But we're out of time.

I can't do it.

That's Indiana Week in review for this week.

Our panel has been ... Democrat Lara Beck Republican Chris Mitchem Ebony Chapel of Free Press Indiana And Jill Sheridan, Managing Editor at WFYI Public Media.

I'm Jon Schwantes, host of Indiana Lawmakers Join us next time -- because a lot can happen in an Indiana Week The views expressed are solely those of the panelists.

Indiana Weekend Review is produced by Wfyi in association with Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations.