Indiana Data Center Intel

Recent Indiana data center news

• Mar 2, 2026

  Land and Expand: Early 2026 Megaprojects Reflect a Power-First Ethos

  Data Center Frontier reports multiple developers advancing power-first, land-and-expand AI-ready data center campuses in early 2026.

  • Main announcement/action: Developers including Applied Digital (Delta Forge 1), Vantage (Lighthouse), AVAIO Digital (Little Rock), Rowan (Project Temple), Crow Holdings (Dallas) and Amazon (northwest Louisiana) are advancing large-scale projects that pair land banking with secured power and infrastructure commitments; examples include Applied Digital’s 430 MW Delta Forge 1 (two 150 MW facilities on 500+ acres, first operations targeted 2027) and Vantage’s $15B+ Lighthouse (four hyperscale data centers delivering nearly 902 MW IT load on ~672 acres, construction through 2028).
  • Background and details: Projects feature explicit infrastructure co-investments and timelines: Amazon’s $12 billion Louisiana buildout includes up to $400 million for regional water improvements and 100% developer-funded electric infrastructure; AVAIO’s $6 billion Little Rock hub has a 150 MW Entergy Arkansas commitment with potential to scale toward 1 GW, and Rowan’s Project Temple (300 MW, ~700 acres) targets initial operations in 2027 with ~$700 million local investment and unanimous local approvals.
• Mar 2, 2026

  THE BIG PICTURE (Infographic): Blackouts in 2025

  POWER and the International Energy Agency (IEA) report that 2025 major blackout events underscored operational vulnerabilities beyond weather and generation adequacy.

  • Main announcement: The IEA’s Electricity 2026 (released February 2026) and POWER’s coverage identify a shift toward interconnected-system operational risks—notably voltage instability, reactive power balance, and protection coordination—driven by high renewable penetration, record connection queues, and surging data center demand (e.g., Northern Virginia event: ~1,800 MW of data-center load transferred to backup). The IEA series (Electricity 2024–2026) traces the evolution from weather-driven outages to these operational failure modes.
  • Background and key facts: The article catalogs 15 major 2025 events with concrete impacts and dates, including Chile (Feb 25, 2025): grid separation with ~1,800 MW on the 500-kV corridor and 98% of population (~19 million) affected; Ireland Storm Éowyn (Jan 24, 2025): ~768,000 premises affected and €300 million in estimated insurance claims; Brazil (Oct 14, 2025): substation fire triggered ~10,000 MW load-shedding and accelerated planned transmission auctions (March 2026 auction: 888 km; later auction projected to mobilize R$20 billion).
• Mar 2, 2026

  Coal is booming. Here’s what it means for climate pollution.

  U.S. power sector saw emissions increase as coal generation surged during President Donald Trump’s first year back in office.

  • Main announcement/action: Coal generation surged in 2025, driving a 4 percent rise in CO2 emissions from U.S. power plants (third-largest annual increase in 20 years); coal generation increased 13 percent in 2025 per EIA data, and coal still generated 737 TWh versus wind and solar 760 TWh collectively. The article attributes part of the surge to seasonal factors (cold winter, higher natural gas prices) and policy actions under the Trump administration.
  • Background and details:DOE emergency orders (2025) directed five coal plants to stay open past retirement (four issued in late December 2025); state-level impacts include Indiana (CO2 from power plants rose 8.5 million tons, coal generation up >20%) and Texas/ERCOT (installed 15 GW new solar/battery/wind in 2025, demand up ~5 percent, coal generation up 8 percent). The piece also notes policy shifts: cuts to EV tax credits and rollback of fuel economy standards.
• Feb 27, 2026

  Policy Shock: Big Tech Told to Power Its Own AI Buildout

  The White House is advancing a ‘ratepayer protection’ framework aimed at ensuring large AI data center projects do not shift grid upgrade costs onto residential customers.

  • Main action: The White House is pushing a ratepayer protection approach that would encourage/require large AI and hyperscale developers to demonstrate energy self-sufficiency or provide dedicated power solutions (e.g., behind-the-meter generation) when seeking large-load approvals; the article cites signals that formal guidance or rulemaking and possible state-level measures could follow in the near term.
  • Context and details: The article reports market movement (about one-third of new U.S. projects evaluating private/on-site power), technical choices include natural gas turbines, fuel cells, hybrid microgrids, and renewables, capacity scales of hundreds of megawatts to gigawatt levels are discussed, and a cited Nordic deal (Equinix/atNorth) reports roughly 1 gigawatt of secured power capacity and further expansion plans; potential near-term indicators include utility tariff changes, hyperscaler commitments, and federal guidance.
• Feb 26, 2026

  Southern Co. Lands Largest Loan in DOE History—$26.5B for Gas, Nuclear, and Grid Projects

  The Department of Energy (DOE) announced the closing of a $26.54 billion loan package with Southern Company subsidiaries Georgia Power and Alabama Power on Feb. 25, 2026.

  • Main action: The DOE’s Office of Energy Dominance Financing (EDF) closed a $26.54 billion federal loan guarantee (approximately $22.4 billion to Georgia Power and $4.1 billion to Alabama Power) to finance more than 16 GW of firm generation and over 1,300 miles of transmission across the Southeast. The loans carry an ~30-year term, are available for draw through Sept. 15, 2033, and will support ~5 GW new natural gas generation, ~6 GW nuclear uprates/license renewals, hydropower modernization, battery energy storage systems, and grid enhancements.
  • Context and supporting details: The transaction was executed under DOE’s rebranded EDF (successor to LPO) and the Section 1706 Energy Dominance Financing Program after the One Big Beautiful Bill Act changes; the federal program retains a $250 billion aggregate loan cap and the DOE reports ~$289 billion in available loan authority. Southern Company concurrently disclosed an $81 billion capital plan (2026–2030), 10 GW of fully executed large-load contracts (26 agreements) including data center customers (Google, Meta, Microsoft, Compass Datacenters) with minimum 15-year terms; the company expects the loans to reduce interest expense by >$300M per year.
• Feb 26, 2026

  Cooling’s New Reality: It’s Not Air vs. Liquid Anymore. It’s Architecture.

  Data Center Frontier (Matt Vincent) summarizes a batch of industry announcements and product launches that collectively reframe data center cooling as a full-stack systems engineering challenge.

  • Summary of main announcements: HRL Laboratories unveiled Low-Chill (Feb. 24, 2026), a single-phase direct liquid cooling approach developed under DOE/ARPA-E that claims +40% processor cooling or >10X reduction in pumping power, while Johnson Controls agreed to acquire Alloy Enterprises (Feb. 18, 2026) (expected to close in fiscal Q3; financial terms undisclosed). Carrier (Feb. 26, 2026) and Modine/Airedale (Jan. 22, 2026) launched chillers emphasizing –20°F to 140°F operating range, fast recovery, and hybrid free-cooling; Infinium (Jan. 15, 2026) launched Infinium Edge immersion platform; Boyd announced a manufacturing expansion in Juarez to ~460,000 sq ft (Feb. 17, 2026); Waste2Nano announced a wastewater-cooled AI platform targeting 10,000–20,000 m³/day (~5 MGD) initial deployment.
  • Background and supporting details: The article is a roundup/opinion-style synthesis (not a single primary press release) that compiles multiple company announcements and trade-show reveals from Jan–Feb 2026, highlights thermal metrics disclosed by HRL (e.g., 8.2 °C/kW thermal interface resistance; <1 psi pressure drop; <1% pumping power block-level; 70°C inlet) and firm product claims (Johnson Controls: up to 35% thermal efficiency improvement, up to 75% pressure-drop reduction). It notes regulatory/transaction timing (JCI/Alloy closing subject to regulatory approvals in fiscal Q3) and clarifies which items are product launches versus strategic acquisitions or manufacturing expansions.
• Feb 25, 2026

  Aeroderivative Turbines Move to the Center of AI Data Center Power Strategy

  Data Center Frontier reports that data centers are repurposing aeroderivative gas turbines—retired aircraft-engine cores adapted to spin generators—as fast-start backup power to address the AI-era power crunch.

  • Main point: Data centers are evaluating and stockpiling aeroderivative gas turbines (jet-engine cores repackaged to drive generators) that can deliver tens of megawatts of fast-start electricity with a small footprint and a much faster delivery timeline than conventional power plants.
  • Context: This is reporting/analysis by authors David Chernicoff and Matt Vincent (Editor in Chief, Data Center Frontier); the article describes the technical approach and industry trend and provides author contact (email mvincent@endeavorb2b.com) and profile links. It is not announcing a single corporate deal.
• Feb 24, 2026

  7x24 Exchange's Dennis Cronin on the Data Center Workforce Crisis: The Talent Cliff Is Already Here

  Dennis Cronin (7x24 Exchange founding member and MCGA board member) warns the data center industry is already facing a structural workforce crisis and calls for coordinated industry investment, standardized certification, and scaled community-college pathways.

  • Main announcement/action: Cronin estimates a roughly one million job gap (467,000–498,000 core operational roles + ~514,000 emerging AI/sustainability/security roles), calls to replace five-year experience requirements with an entry-level certification, and urges a shared funding approach across operators, vendors, contractors, and manufacturers (he cites $60B in data centers announced this year and advocates for $1B to scale training).
  • Background and details: Cronin critiques internal academies and commercial courses (commercial training often ~$1,000 per day per person), highlights community colleges (Cleveland CC, Northern Virginia CC, Southside CC) as scalable two-year technician pipelines, and outlines a workforce ecosystem of outreach, standardized curriculum, certification labs, apprenticeships, and employer commitments.
• Feb 23, 2026

  240-Mile Network to Expand High-speed Dark Fiber in Indianapolis

  Light Source Communications (LSC) announced a new network build out: a 240-mile dark fiber route in Indianapolis, projected for completion by the third quarter of 2027.

  • Main announcement: LSC will build a 240-mile dark fiber route in Indianapolis, with targeted completion by Q3 2027, intended to enable high-speed processing for GPUs, support AI workloads, and expand capacity for hyperscalers, neoclouds, and data centers. The build targets connectivity within the city’s financial district, government institutions, and education sectors.
  • Background and other details: LSC stated the route will strengthen regional connectivity and enhance network resilience; the provider also has ongoing construction projects in Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Tulsa. This article is an announcement of the new Indianapolis build (not a retrospective report on a previously completed project).
• Feb 20, 2026

  GenAI Pushes Cloud to $119B Quarter as AI Networking Race Intensifies

  Synergy Research Group reported a major market acceleration in cloud infrastructure spending and Cisco introduced a new high-throughput ASIC to address AI networking bottlenecks.

  • Main announcement: Synergy Research Group reported Q4 enterprise cloud infrastructure services at $119.1 billion (up ~$12B sequentially and $29B YoY) and a full-year market of $419 billion; Synergy estimates ~30% constant-currency YoY growth in Q4 and highlighted GenAI as the dominant demand driver. The report notes public IaaS/PaaS grew 34% YoY in Q4 and market shares: Amazon 28%, Microsoft 21%, Google 14%; Synergy also reports CoreWeave > $1.5 billion in quarterly cloud revenue.
  • Product and infrastructure details: At Cisco Live EMEA, Cisco launched the Silicon One G300 ASIC (102.4 Tbps) to power Nexus 9000/8000 systems targeting hyperscalers, neoclouds and sovereign clouds, claiming 33% higher network utilization, 28% reduction in AI job completion time, support for 1.6T Ethernet, integrated telemetry and fully liquid-cooled switch designs with ~70% energy efficiency improvement and up to 50% optical power reduction for new 800G optics.