Google data center to be challenged in final vote by Indianapolis councilors. What to know

(This story was updated to add new information.)

As Google’s proposed data center on the far southeast side seems poised for rejection by the Indianapolis City-County Council, the tech titan will have one last chance to make its case later this month.

Councilors voted unanimously on Sept. 8 to take the rare step of hosting a public hearing where opponents of the Franklin Township data center can challenge the Metropolitan Development Commission’s approval of the rezoning for the project in August.

Councilors will take a final vote at the Sept. 22 council meeting after Google representatives and the company’s detractors present their arguments. Typically, the council rubber-stamps proposals approved by the MDC, but an outspoken group of residents near Franklin Township who oppose the data center have forced the issue.

Republican Councilor Michael-Paul Hart, who represents the district where Google wants to rezone a roughly 470-acre pastoral site for a possible $1 billion data center, forced a vote Monday night to challenge the project. Dozens of data center opponents packed the council chambers and erupted with applause after all 25 councilors voted to hold the hearing in two weeks.

Hart said his stance is shaped by his constituents, who worry that the data center will ultimately increase local energy prices because it requires huge amounts of water and electricity to operate. Opponents also say the data center would be a massive, noisy eyesore that they don’t want to live near.

The data center is expected to create only 50 full-time jobs that pay about $100,000, another shortcoming in the eyes of its opponents. Despite that relatively low number of jobs, the city would consider hefty tax breaks for Google — a Silicon Valley behemoth with a market value of nearly $3 trillion — if the project’s rezoning were to pass.

“Indianapolis, we’re the capital city, and I think our land is a higher commodity” than more rural areas of the state, Hart said before the meeting. “You’re not making any more land, and especially here in Marion County, we’ve got to be very careful with what happens to that land.”

Details of data center’s energy usage, tax breaks still vague

How much the city would give Google in tax breaks remains unclear, as does the exact amount of energy required by the data center, which would sit on a site off I-74 and bordered by South Post Road, East Troy Avenue, Davis Road and Vandergriff Road.

A Google spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment Sept. 8, but confirmed to IndyStar last month that it was the secretive company considering a data center in Franklin Township. A Google spokesperson said, “These are complex projects and development of the site is subject to a variety of factors.”

Hart says the company told councilors in private meetings last week that it expected the data center, which would likely include four buildings, would use about one million gallons of water per day. That water would mainly serve to cool computing equipment used to store and process vast amounts of data.

Neither Google nor Citizens Energy, the utility that has agreed to supply water, confirmed the one million gallon estimate. But the Environmental and Energy Study Institute found that large data centers can consume up to five million gallons of water per day — equivalent to the water used in a town with 10,000-50,000 residents.

A Citizens Energy spokesperson told IndyStar in a statement Sept. 8 that “[w]e do not expect the needs of the data center to have an impact on our ability to serve current or future customers in the Franklin Township area.”

While the total dollar value of tax breaks the city would offer to Google remains unclear, details made public so far suggest significant savings for the tech giant.

The company could receive a 10-year real property tax abatement, an economic tool that lowers the taxes owed on new construction, and a 40-year tax exemption on personal property, according to Indy Economic Development, the city-adjacent nonprofit chaired by Mayor Joe Hogsett that is working with Google.

The real property tax abatement would waive 50% of taxes on new real estate improvements like buildings in that 10-year period. The company has, however, committed to supplemental tax payments of at least $1 million a year.

Where Indy councilors stand on final vote for Google data center

At least 15 councilors must oppose the project on Sept. 22 to meet the 60% threshold required to overturn the MDC’s rezoning approval in August.

So far, 17 councilors have said they plan to vote no, largely because they’re following council precedent and supporting the district councilor’s position. Besides Hart, those councilors expected to vote no are Republicans Paul Annee, Joshua Bain, Derek Cahill, Michael Dilk and Brian Mowery; and Democrats John Barth, Jesse Brown, Andy Nielsen, Rena Allen, Jared Evans, Kristin Jones, Frank Mascari, Nick Roberts, Ali Brown, Jessica McCormick and Keith Graves.

“Our city deserves development that strengthens neighborhoods, protects our environment, and creates real, lasting opportunities for residents,” Graves, the most recent councilor to oppose the project, said in a statement Monday.

Only one of the remaining eight councilors, Democrat Ron Gibson, has shared openly that he plans to support the proposed development. He told IndyStar Monday that a $1 billion investment from a company like Google is too significant to pass up.

“I think Indianapolis has got to be always on the forefront of attracting jobs, more investment, and an investment like Google is a lifetime investment,” Gibson said Monday night. “I mean, that’s significant. You don’t see those type of projects in Marion County.”

Email Indianapolis City Hall Reporter Jordan Smith at JTsmith@gannett.com. Follow him on X: @jordantsmith09