Representatives from NextEra Energy recently answered questions at a meeting of the Area Planning Commission about an amendment to Vigo County’s unified zoning ordinance, which would create a special exception for Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS).

Terre Haute City Council representative Amanda Thompson raised concerns about the possibility of NextEra building the BESS in preparation for a future data center, and asked specifically whether NextEra had plans for a data center located in Vigo County.

Taylor Christian, Project Manager for NextEra, stated that, “this ordinance is focused on energy storage.” According to a report from Reuters, NextEra has recently received a 1.9 billion dollar federal loan to refurbish an Iowa based nuclear power plant to provide energy for up to six Google data centers.

VCSC Athletic Director, citizen member, and mayoral appointee John Collett stated that, “I want to clarify, this commission is not in a position to say we want or don’t want a data center… so please don’t go back to your people and say Vigo County doesn’t want anything.”

Thompson also questioned the timing of the ordinance, drafted by Joe and Gretchen Anne Etling, stating that she did not receive a copy until October 28th, and being asked to make a decision on November 4th was premature.

John Hanley, commission representative from Otter Creek and Nevins Township said, “I’ve been talking with these gentlemen and we worked through this, I know everyone wasn’t aware of it, but Joe and Gretchen wouldn’t have presented it if there weren’t safeguards in place.”

When it came to a vote whether to table the ordinance, members voting no to waiting were Paul Allsup, Ryan Baker, John Hanley, Debbie May, and William Verdeyen, members voting to table were Deborah Carter, Terry Clark, John Collett, Norm Froderman, Marcus Maurer, and Amanda Thompson.

There seemed to be some confusion during the end of the vote with John Hanley initially stating that the motion to table the ordinance had failed, then he was corrected by other members telling him it had passed, and then he insisted that it had failed, and suggested that it would take eight votes to pass the motion.

Ultimately the meeting moved forward as though the motion had failed despite a majority of the members voting to table the ordinance. Only after the motion was voted on were members of the public then allowed to comment on the ordinance.

Local residents raised concerns about the possibility of fire and water contamination. According to a report from Energy Storage News, NextEra recently suspended operations at energy storage facilities in Long Island after a fire in 2023 reportedly led to water contamination in the area.

County Auditor Larry Hutchings raised concerns about the location of the facility, and then requested that the commission reconsider their decision not to table the ordinance. Taylor Christian came back to the podium and explained that tabling the ordinance would create problems for their Generator Interconnection Agreement.

In response, John Hanley quickly called for a motion to vote on the ordinance. It was unclear who made the motion, but it appeared John Collett quickly seconded and then it passed with only three members opposing which were Amanda Thompson, Deborah Carter, and Paul Allsup.