According to multiple reports, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) has approved $168 million dollars in tax incentives for data center projects around the state.

Last month the Indiana Capital Chronicle reported that Governor Mike Braun appointed a new slate of board members to the IEDC after evidence of impropriety was reported to the state inspector general.

The Indiana Citizens Action Coalition has also raised concerns about the environmental and economic impacts of the proposed data centers, including one report estimating that the new facilities could consume more power than Indiana’s 6.8 million residents by 2030.

According to the New York Times article on Amazon’s new data center in New Carlisle, “The facility will consume 2.2 gigawatts of electricity — enough to power a million homes. Each year, it will use millions of gallons of water to keep the chips from overheating. And it was built with a single customer in mind: the A.I. start-up Anthropic, which aims to create an A.I. system that matches the human brain.”

These projects continue to move forward even after the state put a stop to it’s own LEAP program, which according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle, is now selling land it purchased for, “less than what state taxpayers paid two years ago for the properties.”

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