Indiana Data Center News

Apr 29, 2026

Dashboards, AI infrastructure and the States Leading Both

Dell participated in two National Governors Association (NGA) convenings in Charleston and Philadelphia to advance statewide data dashboards for student/system success and to discuss energy infrastructure needs as AI scales.

Dell participated in two NGA convenings:
- Location: Charleston, SC (NGA Policy Academy to Advance Data Dashboards Measuring Student and System Success) and Philadelphia (NGA Chair’s Initiative “Reigniting the American Dream”).
- Date: not specified in article
- Time: not specified in article
- Agenda/subject: designing user-centered data dashboards that connect agencies and measure student/system success; discussing permitting reform, grid upgrades, and community engagement to support AI-driven energy demand.
Key follow-ups and context:
- Technical examples and gaps: Indiana’s “Graduates Prepared to Succeed” dashboard cited as a model; teams identified measurement gaps in civic preparation and student well-being.
- Energy and permitting focus: states are prioritizing permitting reform, grid upgrades, smarter demand mapping and energy-efficient design; the article cites a multi-year permitting example (“a project that takes seven years to permit”) as a strategic liability.

Apr 28, 2026

The Power Certainty Premium: GPC Infrastructure CEO Jim Summers on Delivering Gas-Powered Compute at AI Scale

GPC Infrastructure CEO Jim Summers argues on-site gas generation and mobile PPAs offer guaranteed timelines and risk transfer for AI data center power.

Main announcement/action: GPC Infrastructure (CEO Jim Summers) positions behind-the-meter natural gas generation and a mobile PPA structure as a solution that provides speed to market, date-certain delivery, and risk transfer for hyperscalers; the mobile PPA amortizes costs over long-term agreements while allowing equipment relocation or reassignment as grid capacity becomes available.
Background and details:Supply chain is the new critical path with prime mover lead times exceeding five years; GPC favors modular systems and air-derivative/reciprocating engines sized 100 MW to 1 GW. Summers cites that ~10% of U.S. generation is already on-site, baseline thermal-to-electric conversion is 35–40% (potentially approaching ~85% with waste heat capture), and batteries are essential to manage AI’s volatile instantaneous loads.

Apr 28, 2026

California Utilities Have a Solution to Soaring Energy Prices: More Data Centers

PG&E is advancing a policy and commercial push to attract large data center loads as a means to lower electric rates for California ratepayers.

Main announcement/action: PG&E has celebrated the delivery of its first large data-center customer in San Jose and is actively courting hyperscalers; the utility announced a rate decrease in March 2026 and asserts that each 1 GW of data center load could reduce electric rates by 1–2%, while forecasting up to 12.6 GW of potential data-center load from current applications (enough to power 8.4 million homes). CPUC also approved Electric Rule No. 30 (July 2025) requiring applicants to pay transmission upgrade costs upfront to protect ratepayers.
Background and other details: Regulatory and research sources (Brattle Group and LBNL) show California’s retail electricity prices rose markedly 2019–2024 (California at 30.29 cents/kWh); Cal Advocates warns transmission upgrades could run in the billions and recommends cost-responsibility rules. State-level bills (Sen. Scott Padilla, March) would streamline environmental review (ELDP incentives) and impose tariffs to ensure data centers offset costs; a March presidential Rate Payer Protection Pledge was signed by major tech firms (Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, xAI).

Apr 27, 2026

TD Cowen: AI Adoption Is Already Here. Infrastructure Demand Is What Comes Next.

TD Cowen’s GenAI Adoption Survey shows enterprise AI is embedded and shifting from assistive copilots to autonomous agents, driving sustained, power-intensive data center demand.

Main finding: Across 689 U.S. enterprises, 92% now use at least one major AI platform; roughly one-third already run semi-autonomous AI agents in production and more than three-quarters expect to run multi-step autonomous workflows by 2027. The survey reports three-quarters of respondents see positive ROI, signaling durable AI budgets rather than experimental spend.
Context and details: Adoption is moving from front-end productivity tools into horizontal enterprise SaaS and centralized data platforms (data lakes/warehouses), producing more continuous, data-intensive workloads that require dense compute, high-speed interconnects, and faster power delivery; primary barriers cited are security, compliance, and governance, with formal governance accelerating production deployments.

Apr 24, 2026

Data Center World 2026: Innovation Spotlight

Data Center Frontier reported on innovations showcased at Data Center World 2026, highlighting product launches and partnerships from XL Batteries, STL, Belden + OptiCool, and ABB.

Main announcement/action: XL Batteries introduced non-toxic, non-flammable organic flow batteries for long-duration energy storage (6 hours to more than 250 hours, 20+ year lifetime) as a data-center-focused solution; STL launched the Neuralis connectivity platform (pre-terminated, ultra-high-density fiber with ~7,000 strands and designs to support transitions from 400G to 800G+); Belden and OptiCool announced integrated rack-level systems with OptiCool RDHx supporting up to 120 kW per rack (with 60 kW demonstrated) and modular swap capability in ~5 minutes; ABB promoted HyperGuard, a medium-voltage static UPS configurable in 25 MW blocks and expandable to 50 MW via parallelization, citing a 400 MW Applied Digital facility as a deployment example.
Context and additional details: The coverage is a show-floor summary (not a single coordinated announcement) emphasizing practical execution, offsite pre-termination to reduce labor and deployment time, non-flammability and supply-chain advantages for organic flow batteries, modular cooling to serve the AI “middle market” (10–60 kW scalable racks), and a grid-to-chip approach (800VDC pathways, solid-state breakers) aimed at reducing stranded capex and enabling last-mile flexibility.

Apr 23, 2026

Energy Policy Task Force Addresses Growing Electricity Demand in North Carolina

Governor Josh Stein established the Energy Policy Task Force to strengthen energy infrastructure and affordability in North Carolina.

Energy Policy Task Force established by Governor Josh Stein, co-chaired by NC DEQ Secretary Reid Wilson and Representative Kyle Hall, comprises 30 energy experts and bi-partisan policymakers; it is staffed by the NC Clean Energy Technology Center (NCCETC), the NC Office of the Governor, NC DEQ, and the NC Department of Commerce. The task force is required to submit an annual report to the Governor, General Assembly, North Carolina Utilities Commission, North Carolina Rural Electrification Authority, and the public; it released an interim report on Feb 15, 2026 and will provide a more detailed report on or before Feb 15, 2027.
The task force has two subcommittees—Load Growth Subcommittee and Technical Advisory Subcommittee—and has held meetings on Sept 30, 2025; Dec 2, 2025; Jan 22, 2026; Feb 3 & Feb 10, 2026; and Apr 8, 2026. Presenters and contributors included LBNL, SEPA, CESA, Indiana Office of Energy Development, Virginia State Corporation Commission, David Gardiner and Associates, and Microsoft (which discussed its “Community-First AI Infrastructure Plan”). The interim report contains nine preliminary recommendations (including large load tariffs, BYOC, interconnection reforms, and data center energy/water reporting); the Technical Advisory Subcommittee plans to release a technical modeling report within months.

Apr 23, 2026

The Trillion-Dollar AIDC Boom Gets Real: Omdia Maps the Path From Megaclusters to Microgrids

Omdia has raised its 2030 data center investment forecast beyond $1.6 trillion.

Main announcement: Omdia (Senior Director Vlad Galabov and Practice Lead Shen Wang) raised its 2030 investment projection beyond $1.6 trillion, citing surging AI usage, a broadening buyer base (hyperscalers, tier-2 cloud providers, enterprises), and the emergence of new power infrastructure categories (HVDC, onsite generation, BESS). The firm also reported it has raised monetization forecasts multiple times, noting major model providers moved from roughly $14 billion per year to more than that per month.
Background and specifics: Omdia forecasts roughly 15–20 GWh of BESS deliveries into the AI data center market in 2026, expects rack power densities to move from ~20 kW toward 200 kW and potentially up to 2 MW by decade end, anticipates first meaningful HVDC and solid-state transformer shipments this year, and highlights gas-fired onsite generation, microgrids, and longer-duration batteries (examples include reported Google interest in a 100-hour battery).

Apr 22, 2026

PR Push Seen as Key to Overcoming Data Center Opposition

Parker Slaybaugh of Virginia Connects/LINK Public Affairs outlined a three-phase strategy to build local support for data center projects before, during, and after development.

Main announcement:Parker Slaybaugh (vice president, Virginia Connects/LINK Public Affairs) presented a three-phase strategy aimed at building local support for data center projects before, during, and after project development at Data Center World on April 22, 2026.
Background/details: The remarks were made amid heightened tensions and local opposition to data center expansion, including a cited incident in Indianapolis where shots were fired at a local official’s home alongside a note opposing data centers.
- Event: Data Center World
- Date: April 22, 2026
- Location: Washington (dateline)
- Agenda/subject: public relations and community engagement strategies for data center projects

Apr 22, 2026

Patented: Verizon’s Signal Spoof Detection at Base Stations and More North Texas Inventive Activity

Dallas-Fort Worth reported 171 patents granted for the week of March 24 and Verizon was granted a patent for detecting GPS/satellite signal spoofing at cellular base stations.

Main announcement: Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington (19100) 171 patents granted for the week of March 24, ranked No. 8 out of 250 U.S. metros; notable individual patent: Verizon Patent and Licensing Inc. (U.S. Patent No. 12587857) for signal spoof detection at base stations using a comparison of a station’s known “true position” with a calculated “real time position” and generating an alert when the distance exceeds a threshold. Named inventors on the Verizon patent are Jerry Gamble, Jr. (Grapevine, TX) and Sumanth S. Mallya (Flower Mound, TX).
Background/details: The article is a patent roundup (Dallas Invents) listing utility and design patents connected to North Texas; it enumerates classification counts (G: Physics 53; H: Electricity 49; DESIGN: 31, etc.), top assignees (e.g., Texas Instruments Inc. 17; Traxxas L.P. 17; Samsung 8; Verizon 6) and highlights many granted patents across domains (telecom, AI/ML, medical devices, robotics, energy, networking). For each patent the report includes patent number, inventor(s), assignee, application file/date, and abstract (no speculative outcomes).

Apr 20, 2026

What environmental issues are Hoosiers facing this Earth Day?

Indiana Public Media’s Noon Edition aired an Earth Day program on environmental regulations.

Program details: Aired April 20, 2026; audio length 51:13; the show featured interviews about environmental regulation rollbacks, with topics including data centers and water pollution. Guests named in the program were Kerwin Olson (Citizens Action Coalition), Christian Freitag (Conservation Law Center), David Van Gilder (Hoosier Environmental Council), and Janet McCabe (former deputy administrator, U.S. EPA).
How to participate & distribution: Listeners were invited to call 812-855-0811 or toll-free 1-877-285-9348 and to email questions to news@indianapublicmedia.org; the episode is available on IPM’s site and via the linked YouTube video (WTIU & WFIU - Indiana Public Media).

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