One Indiana environmental and consumer advocate called data center incentives madness, and he believes a recent tracker proves that point.
“Data centers are the single largest threat to affordability, reliability and sustainability of our power sector,” said Ben Inskeep, program director for the Citizens Action Coalition. “It’s ushering in our own higher utility bills, worse air quality and worse environmental quality. It’s also leading to a loss of jobs nationwide as data centers are being used as the excuse to fire humans.”
According to Good Jobs First, a Washington, D.C. based think-tank, Amazon Data Services will receive more than $8.2 billion in subsidies for its New Carlisle, Indiana data center. The awards are the known subsidy package, according to the organization.
The $8.2 billion figure is Indiana’s largest award, and it’s the largest amount Amazon will receive from a state so far.
Anti-data center activists and residents worry about what this means for Northwest Indiana’s Amazon data centers, at least one of which is planned for Hobart. Pro-data center community leaders say it’s necessary for community development.
Inskeep said that he believes the amount will be “far larger” for the New Carlisle data center.
“That is a severe underestimate of the subsidies they’re eligible for over the coming decades,” Inskeep said. “It only includes the sales tax exemption on their utility bill under current rates. So, in other words, it doesn’t factor in any electric bill increases in the future. It doesn’t factor in any sales tax exemptions they’re eligible for over the next 50 years.”
Bill Schalliol, director of economic development for St. Joseph County’s department of infrastructure, planning and growth, said in a statement that Indiana has created an incentive structure that’s created a favorable environment for hyperscale investment. For the New Carlisle Amazon project, Schalliol said the county offered “a mid-level incentive” and will receive “a major amount of revenue” throughout the life of the project.
“This is far more revenue that the County will receive than if the land stayed in its present, agricultural state,” his statement said. “This is revenue that can sit outside the budget and pave roads, upgrade utilities, build parks and trails, and assist public safety, schools, and other governmental units with additional funding sources.”
Jeff Rea, president and CEO of the South Bend Regional Chamber of Commerce, said Amazon’s New Carlisle campus is projected to generate more than $2.3 billion in local tax revenue over 35 years. The New Carlisle incentive package helped secure the data center for St. Joseph County, Rea said.
“The benefits of the (Amazon) project to our community are substantial and long-lasting,” Rea said in his statement. “Economic development incentives are designed to attract transformative investment that creates jobs, expands the tax base, and generates economic activity that would not occur otherwise.”
An Amazon spokesperson responded to the Good Jobs First subsidy tracker in a statement. The company plans to invest $11 billion in St. Joseph County and $15 billion in northern Indiana, according to the statement, and Amazon contributed about $4.1 billion to the state’s gross domestic product between 2024 and 2025.
“During the same period, Amazon’s $14 billion investment in data center infrastructure in Indiana generated revenue for local businesses and supported an estimated average of 18,000 full-time equivalent jobs annually in the local economy,” the statement said. “Strong support for our cloud infrastructure means the Indiana economy will realize increased tax revenues, additional job growth, and economic vitality due to the ripple effects in the local economy. It also means we can expand local community initiatives, invest in renewable energy, and deliver workforce development and educational programs that support the next generation of talent.”
Heather Ennis, president and CEO of the Northwest Indiana Forum, said her organization has been at the forefront of economic development projects regionally, including data center development. They work with operators on site development, utilities to understand their assets, and they work to “dispel some of the myths” around the developments, she said.
Although the past couple of years have seen more data center development in Northwest Indiana, Ennis said the boom won’t last forever. She added that the area is desirable because of water and utility infrastructure and the proximity to Chicago.
“It bodes well for us,” Ennis said. “I think that we are at a gold rush of this type of investment right now.”
Ennis echoed the sentiment that subsidies are typically used to attract investment.
“This is not giving away money,” she said. “It’s foregoing dollars that they would pay. … When people say that we’re giving money away, I feel like it’s a misrepresentation of the way incentives really work.”
Data center operators still pay taxes, Ennis said, adding that in Hobart, Amazon will pay more than $1 billion in taxes to the city. She also said that these companies need more resources than residents, including private security.
Lisa Vallee, organizing director for Just Transition Northwest Indiana, said it’s unfortunate that data center operators are receiving tax benefits when Hoosiers are struggling to pay their bills.
“We’re dealing with everything being more expensive,” Vallee said. “Of course, us, the taxpayers, are never getting a tax break, but our government is giving away so much money to these large, rich beyond our imagination companies.”
Vallee said she didn’t know the Good Jobs First subsidy tracker only included New Carlisle data center numbers, and she had assumed it had included the Amazon campus under construction in Hobart. She believes it’s more concerning that the $8 billion figure only covers the New Carlisle data center.
“It seems like we’re at a point in time where not just our state government, but also our federal government, is really primed to give away as much as possible to these big corporations,” Vallee said. “It seems like we’re at a time where we’re really watching them give away all the resources we have.”
Vallee is concerned about what will happen to facilities if the artificial intelligence “bubble” bursts and they’re no longer needed. She said they’re destroying local ecology and wildlife, and local governments are backed into a corner where they need the money due state legislators cutting property tax revenue to localities under 2025’s Senate Enrolled Act 1.
“Municipalities are looking at funding cuts that are drastic and it’s hard to come up with alternative ways to get that type of money for small towns,” Vallee said. “It’s happening over and over, and at the same time, we’re watching them take away all of our recreational space, all our wildlife spaces.”
Angelita Soriano, a Hobart resident, lives across the street from Amazon’s construction site. She’s concerned about health and environmental impacts and if the electric grid can handle data center operation throughout the region.
Soriano said it’s disappointing to look outside and see the facility under construction. Dirt from the site is blowing into her home, and her siding is so dirty that she can draw on the side of her house.
“I have two little girls, and we have a playground set outside,” Soriano said. “I don’t even feel comfortable with them going outside to play unless I have completely wiped everything down.”
Since the land was agricultural, Soriano worries that pesticides or chemicals in the soil might harm her daughters.
Barb Deardorff, a Kankakee Township resident, also lives near a proposed Amazon data center. Deardorff lives down the road from Project Rise, a $7 billion data center that was announced Wednesday and received tax abatements from Jasper County government.
Deardorff said the project was approved at the county level, even though the overwhelming majority of residents spoke against it.
“It’s really offensive that they think local taxpayers should subsidize (Amazon CEO) Jeff Bezos, one of the richest people on the planet, and that he should get tax breaks while the rest of us continue to pay our fair share,” she added. “Every resident I’ve talked to is not in favor of this and is upset and offended by it.”
Deardorff worries about how her township government and local schools might be impacted with tax abatements, especially because they’d benefit from the tax revenue. She’s also frustrated to see how much money the New Carlisle data center will receive in subsidies while everyday taxpayers struggle.
“It really makes me wonder if our elected officials are in their pocket,” she added.
Steve DelBianco, president and CEO of tech industry trade association NetChoice, said in a statement that Indiana’s tax policy has led the New Carlisle campus to create new jobs, hundreds of local hires, upgraded water systems and an “Amazon-funded power agreement projected to lower electricity costs.” Amazon, Google and Meta are members of NetChoice.
“Indiana does not write checks to data centers,” DelBianco said in his statement. “It declines to charge sales tax on their equipment … Communities that welcome data centers get the investment and the tax base that come with them.”
Dan Diorio, vice president of state policy for the Data Center Coalition, said in a statement that data centers “power nearly every aspect of modern life” and create high-wage jobs and generate tax revenue that supports schools, public safety and health care. Data Center Coalition is a membership organization advocating for data center owners and includes Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic among its members.
He claims that Indiana data centers have contributed $3.5 billion in labor income and generated $461 million in state and local taxes in 2024. He also claimed that data centers have contributed more than $16 billion to Indiana’s gross domestic product.
Sales tax exemptions “closely align” with exemptions for manufacturing equipment, Diorio said in his statement.
“By defraying part of the cost of significant capital purchases, the programs foster continuous reinvestment in facilities with the most up-to-date and energy-efficient equipment while facilitating consistent economic activity and output,” Diorio said. “The data center industry remains committed to working with residents, communities, and policymakers to support the continued responsible development of this important infrastructure that’s making significant contributions to Indiana’s 21st-century economy.”
Although some local officials are in favor of data centers, Inskeep encourages residents to continue standing up for their communities and fighting against the developments if they’re unwanted. Local governments require help from the Indiana General Assembly to help ensure they can still function without data center development.
“Communities have been very clear that data centers are not welcome, not wanted and not desirable development,” Inskeep said. “This is not a problem that doesn’t have ample solutions. It would just require our state leadership to think of the actions. We definitely don’t need data centers to plug any sort of budget holes.”
