The northern Indiana electric utility Indiana Michigan Power wants the state’s permission to quickly acquire about twice as much electricity as it has now in order to serve AI data centers. Consumer advocates said that could cost more than $5 billion and it’s not clear how much of the cost tech companies would pay.
I&M wants to build or purchase up to 3,300 megawatts of “dispatchable power” — likely natural gas — and up to 800 MW of clean energy to serve data centers.
A state law passed this year speeds up the process to get energy for data centers. It also requires them to foot 80 percent of the bill.
But consumer advocates with the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor and the Citizens Action Coalition said I&M hasn’t spelled out what portion data centers would pay versus its other customers.
“So we don't have clear insight into how bills are going to change over time, how this potentially could impact ratepayers. Other than that we know it's going to be very, very expensive," said CAC's Ben Inskeep.
I&M said its tariff requires data centers to pay for the energy needed to serve them and has safeguards in place if they stop or significantly reduce service.
The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission is expected to decide whether to approve I&M’s process for getting power for data centers by the end of December.
Rebecca is our energy and environment reporter. Contact her at rthiele@iu.edu or on Signal at IPBenvironment.01. Follow her on Twitter at @beckythiele.