Indianapolis can’t stop data centers. Congress must. | Opinion

Indianapolis recently approved the city's first hyperscale data center in Decatur Township. This decision created a difficult situation for City-County Council Republican Josh Bain, whose southwest Marion County district includes the proposed site. Bain expressed limited control over the approval process, which is managed by the Metropolitan Development Commission, an unelected board. While some community members criticized Bain for not vocally opposing the project, he reportedly negotiated protections for the community. City-County Councilor Michael-Paul Hart and other local Republicans have opposed a data center moratorium, favoring instead a strategy to make data centers financially compensate communities for their costs. However, the article argues that local efforts are insufficient, as blocking one project merely shifts development elsewhere, as exemplified by Google increasing the size of a nearby data center in Monrovia after an Indianapolis proposal failed. The author contends that data centers are too large for local or state regulation, leading to a "race to the bottom" among communities vying for development, often based on misleading claims of jobs and tax revenue. The broader issue, the author states, is the significant strain data centers place on the electricity grid, leading to spiking electricity bills and the need to import power, impacts that extend beyond state lines due to the interconnected U.S. grid. Ultimately, the opinion piece calls for federal intervention, urging Congress to pass a ban or moratorium on new data centers. This would provide time to establish appropriate, enforceable regulations to address the nationwide impact of the massive data center build-out, rather than relying on pledges from technology companies, as proposed by figures like former President Donald Trump.