INDIANAPOLIS — A proposed 470 acre data center in Franklin Township has cleared another hurdle recently. The hearing examiner of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Development Commission held a public hearing on June 26, and recommended the proposal to the Metropolitan Development Commission.
The site is on the far southeast side of Indianapolis, stretching across nearly 470 acres along South Post Road, East Troy Avenue, Davis Road and Vandergriff Road.
According to planning documents, the project would take anywhere from five to 10 years to complete, with up to 350 full-time jobs when fully operational.
Data centers are specialized buildings that contain the necessary infrastructure, like servers, storage, and networking equipment, to support IT systems and applications. Data centers require substantial power to maintain operations, and their energy consumption is rising due to the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Power is also needed for cooling systems to maintain optimal conditions for IT equipment. It has been estimated that 4.4% of all power usage goes to U.S. data centers.