Why did people connect data centers with the Gary blackouts?
Gary has no operating data centers, despite social media claims that the city hosts several facilities. The city recently enacted a one-year moratorium on new data center projects amid broader concerns that low-income communities and communities of color could bear environmental and health burdens from development.
Jenae Barnes, a 2026-27 Scripps Fellow, says Gary does not have any operating data centers and that social media claims describing the city as home to eight facilities are inaccurate. Gary recently imposed a one-year moratorium on new data center development.
Barnes says data centers are associated with Gary because the predominantly Black, low-income city resembles other communities targeted for projects promising economic benefits. She argues that such development can expose residents to polluted air, contaminated water and other environmental impacts, raising concerns about whether disadvantaged communities are treated as expendable locations for industrial growth.