Merom Coal Plant to Power Google and Amazon Data Centers; Hoosiers at Risk for Footing the Bill

INDIANAPOLIS - NIPSCO GenCo recently signed a 12-year contract with Halldor Energy Company to power new Google (Michigan City) and Amazon data centers with its Merom coal-fired power plant. The Michigan City data center would be Google's first in the country to contract for a coal plant's capacity, to Sierra Club knowledge- an unprecedented step for utilities looking to take advantage of the AI data center boom. NIPSCO and NIPSCO GenCo are currently seeking approval by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission of contracts that would power the Google and Amazon data centers, partly with the Merom coal plant.

The public can submit comments here or contact the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Council until Friday, May 29. For more information, visit their website.

Megan Anderson, Senior Campaign Representative, stated, "If approved, these data centers put Hoosiers at risk of being strapped with even higher utility bills and more pollution for years to come. We're already struggling with some of the highest gas prices in the nation and the highest increase in energy prices in two decades. These trillion-dollar Big Tech companies don't care about how this impacts our families or small businesses. They're focused on taking advantage of the AI boom while real people are stuck shouldering the costs."

Ashley Williams, Executive Director of Just Transition Northwest Indiana added, "Built on contaminated soil, Google's Project Maize has already proven to be an environmental wrecking ball, jeopardizing the health and safety of workers and nearby residents. Michigan City has shouldered the burden of coal pollution from the NIPSCO Michigan City Generating Station for nearly a century. Now, a new contract, shrouded in secrecy, to purchase coal from Merom to power Google's data center, only deepens this toxic, shadowy legacy. Hoosiers refuse to be a sacrifice zone for Big Tech."

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit https://www.sierraclub.org.