September 25, 2026 · Johnson · St. Joseph · AES INDIANA

Amazon's Greenwood Robotics Plant, AES Indiana Phase 2, Indiana NRC Agreement State, and Samsung SDI New Carlisle: What Indiana Manufacturers Need to Act on Now

Amazon's Greenwood robotics plant, AES Indiana Phase 2, Indiana's NRC agreement state status, and Samsung SDI New Carlisle: four developments Indiana manufacturers must plan around now.

Daniel BurkePublished every day

Four separate developments landed on Indiana manufacturers' planning horizon this week, and each one has a concrete deadline or decision window attached to it. Amazon is paying at or above 40 to 60 percent above regional manufacturing medians for CNC operators, welders, and controls engineers at a new Greenwood facility. AES Indiana's Phase 2 rate increase is locked in for January with no stay in place. Indiana just became the 41st NRC agreement state, a designation that sets the table for SMR cost recovery on industrial electricity bills as early as 2028. And Samsung SDI has taken full control of the New Carlisle battery plant in St. Joseph County, with a chemistry question that nobody has resolved yet. Here is what each one means for your operation.

Amazon Pays $100,000 Average for the Same Roles You Are Filling Right Now

On September 24, Amazon announced it will invest more than $100 million to purchase and equip a 585,000-square-foot facility at 1175 Collins Road in Greenwood, Johnson County, just east of I-65. Three hundred jobs, average salary of nearly $100,000 per year, targeted for launch by 2028. The roles Amazon is hiring: CNC operators, welders, powder coating technicians, controls engineers, manufacturing engineers, and quality assurance staff.

Those are not Amazon warehouse jobs. Those are the same skilled trades your facility is already competing for in the Indianapolis metro and across south-central Indiana.

This is Amazon's fourth robot-making plant globally. The robots built in Greenwood go directly into Amazon's North American fulfillment network. Amazon has also inherited a tax abatement that Scannell Properties originally secured in 2021, so that ten-year abatement clock is already running, which means Amazon's total cost of operating in Greenwood is lower than its headline investment suggests.

The wage and talent pressure this creates is not a 2028 problem. Candidates evaluate their options well before a facility opens. If your top CNC operator, welder, or controls engineer is approached in 2026 or 2027 with a credible offer from a $100,000-average-salary Amazon facility a commute away, your retention plan either exists or it doesn't.

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AES Indiana Phase 2 Takes Effect in January. No Stay Is in Place.

If you are in AES Indiana territory, this is the number to put in your 2027 operating budget now. Phase 1 of a $71 million base-rate increase took effect July 27. Phase 2 takes effect in January 2027. The IURC did schedule a one-day evidentiary rehearing for early March 2027, but the Office of Utility Consumer Counselor did not request a stay. That means AES Indiana collects Phase 2 in January. Any refund, if the rehearing produces one, comes after the bill, not before.

The IURC order cites $8.50 per month for an average residential account. Industrial rate schedules are structured differently. The actual increase on your facility depends on your rate class and your load profile. A residential average tells you almost nothing about what hits your bill. Pull your current tariff sheet and map the Phase 2 increase against your actual rate class.

The March 2027 hearing is the earliest the rate picture could change. Model your 2027 budget against the January increase now.

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Indiana Is Now the 41st NRC Agreement State. What That Could Mean for Your Bill in 2028.

On September 24, Governor Braun and NRC Chairman Ho K. Nieh signed an agreement giving Indiana regulatory authority over nuclear materials at 213 academic, commercial, and medical facilities statewide. Governor Braun described this as part of Indiana's all-of-the-above energy cost strategy.

The headline event is administrative. The planning consideration sitting underneath it is not.

Under SEA 424, Indiana's investor-owned utilities can seek pre-construction cost recovery for small modular reactor development, subject to IURC review. No Indiana utility has publicly filed an SMR cost-recovery petition yet. Consumer advocates have raised concerns about ratepayer exposure if a project is cancelled, and that is a live debate. But the statutory window is three years from petition to cost recovery on industrial bills. If an Indiana IOU files in the next 12 to 18 months, which is not a scheduled event, an SMR line item on industrial electricity bills becomes possible in the 2028 to 2029 range.

The NRC agreement state designation does not trigger that timeline. It signals that Indiana's regulatory and political infrastructure is being built to support it. Flag 2028 as a year a second cost layer could appear on your electricity bill, and model your exposure accordingly.

For context on how SMR economics are being discussed for C&I facilities, see Small Modular Reactors and Microreactors for Commercial & Industrial Power: What Operators Need to Diligence Before Signing Anything.

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Samsung SDI Takes Full Control of New Carlisle. The Chemistry Question Is Unresolved.

On August 11, Samsung SDI disclosed it had acquired General Motors' entire 49.99% stake in SynergyCells, the $3.5 billion, 680-acre battery plant under construction in New Carlisle, St. Joseph County. The plant is now Samsung SDI's first wholly owned battery facility in North America. GM cited slower-than-expected EV demand following the September 2025 expiration of the $7,500 federal battery EV tax credit.

The announced pivot: rather than launching with EV cells, Samsung SDI will begin production with energy storage system batteries for the U.S. grid-storage market, which installed a record 57.6 GWh in 2025.

The fit-out problem that announcement does not resolve: the building shell was completed with no production machinery installed. The facility was specified for nickel-rich NCA prismatic cells, which is not the lithium iron phosphate chemistry that dominates ESS production today. That equipment fit-out decision is unresolved. Samsung SDI has not finalized its capital allocation for New Carlisle.

The 1,600-plus jobs originally promised are not guaranteed on the original timeline. If you have supply chain or logistics exposure to this facility, or if you are competing for the same St. Joseph County workforce, the relevant trigger event is Samsung SDI's formal capital announcement for New Carlisle. That announcement sets the actual production and hiring calendar. Until then, the timeline is open.

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Questions for Your Morning Huddle

Q: My facility is in AES Indiana territory. How do I find out what the Phase 2 rate increase actually costs us? A: Pull your current rate schedule and identify your rate class. The residential average of $8.50 per month does not apply to industrial accounts. Your actual increase depends on your rate class and load profile. Request your tariff sheet from AES Indiana directly, or pull it from the IURC tariff database, and map the Phase 2 rate against your 12-month billing history to get a dollar figure you can put in your 2027 operating budget.

Q: We have skilled trades on staff in the Indianapolis metro area. When do we actually need to worry about Amazon's Greenwood hiring ramp? A: The facility targets a 2028 launch, but candidates evaluate options before a facility opens, not after. The time to build a retention case for your top CNC operators, welders, and controls engineers is now, before Amazon begins visible recruiting in your labor market. A retention plan you build in 2026 is a negotiation. A retention plan you build after an employee gets an offer is a reaction.

Q: What does Indiana becoming an NRC agreement state actually do to my electricity bill? A: The designation itself does not change your bill. It gives Indiana regulatory authority over nuclear materials at facilities statewide and signals that the state's infrastructure supports SMR development. The cost-recovery pathway that could eventually appear on industrial bills requires a separate utility petition under SEA 424, subject to IURC review. No Indiana utility has filed such a petition. The scenario worth modeling is a potential SMR cost-recovery line item appearing on industrial electricity bills in the 2028 to 2029 range, if a utility files in the next 12 to 18 months.

Q: We have suppliers tied to the Samsung SDI New Carlisle plant. What should we be watching for? A: Watch for Samsung SDI's formal capital announcement for the New Carlisle facility. That is the decision that sets the actual production timeline, equipment fit-out plan, and hiring calendar. The pivot to ESS battery production was announced, but the equipment required for LFP chemistry production is different from what the facility was originally specified for, and that capital decision has not been finalized. Until Samsung SDI commits capital, the production and hiring timeline remains open.

One More: Conexus Rising 30 Deadline Is December 1

The Conexus Rising 30 nomination window is open for the Class of 2027. Nominees must be 30 or younger and active in Indiana's advanced manufacturing or logistics sector. The deadline is December 1, which is six weeks earlier than last year. If you have a rising leader on your team who deserves the recognition, that deadline is real and it will not move for you.

Three Actions Before Your Next Team Meeting

First, model your facility's blended industrial electricity rate under AES Indiana's Phase 2 increase. Use your actual rate class, not the residential average. Put the dollar figure in your 2027 operating budget and mark your calendar for the March 2027 IURC hearing. That is the earliest the rate picture could change.

Second, identify your top two or three people in CNC operations, welding, and controls engineering. Build a retention case before Amazon's 2028 hiring ramp begins pulling from your labor market. A retention plan built now is a negotiation. A retention plan built after someone gets an offer is damage control.

Third, if you have supply chain, logistics, or workforce exposure to the Samsung SDI New Carlisle facility, set a flag for Samsung SDI's formal capital announcement for that site. That announcement is the actual decision point. Everything before it is open.

And if you have a rising leader on your team, nominate them for Conexus Rising 30 before December 1.

For a deeper look at how Indiana electricity cost structures are building toward 2027, see Indiana Coal Retention Costs, AES Indiana Rate Increase, and a Transmission Gap Until 2032: What Manufacturers Need to Do Now.

If you are an Indiana C&I operator and want to map your facility's exposure to AES Indiana's Phase 2 increase and the SMR cost-recovery scenario, you can request a TEG Energy Decision Blueprint here.

Watch this TEG Daily on YouTube: TEG-PENDING-YOUTUBE-URL

01Johnson · Greenwood

Amazon's $100M Robotics Plant in Greenwood: Indiana Becomes Robot-Making Hub

Amazon announced September 24, 2026 that it will invest more than $100 million to purchase and equip a 585,000-square-foot advanced manufacturing facility at 1175 Collins Road in Greenwood, Indiana (just east of I-65 in Johnson County) creating 300 skilled manufacturing and engineering jobs averaging nearly $100,000 per year by end of 2028. The facility, Amazon's fourth robot-making plant globally and its second announced in five weeks following the August 2026 Austin, Texas announcement, will produce equipment for Amazon's North American fulfillment and robotics network using advanced fabrication, robotic welding, automated powder coating, and assembly capabilities supported by AWS and AI-powered smart manufacturing systems. Amazon VP of Worldwide Economic Development Holly Sullivan cited Indiana's manufacturing workforce, competitive cost structure, and I-65 logistics infrastructure as decisive factors; the company is acquiring an existing spec building and inheriting a tax abatement previously secured by prior developer Scannell Properties.

Impact: The Greenwood plant is not a standard job-creation story, it is the production input for Amazon's own stated automation strategy. Amazon's internal documents (reported by The New York Times) project eliminating the need for 160,000 U.S. warehouse hires by 2027 and 600,000 by 2033, saving approximately $12.6 billion in labor costs between 2025 and 2027; the robots built in Greenwood go directly into the fulfillment network executing that displacement. For Indiana's CNC operators, welders, and controls engineers, the immediate competitive pressure is acute: Amazon's ~$100K average salary is 40-60% above regional manufacturing medians, which means Purdue Polytechnic, Ivy Tech's Columbus campus, and area high school robotics programs will face immediate recruitment pressure from a single well-capitalized employer. The warehouse automation market is projected to grow at a 16.1% CAGR from 2026 to 2034, and Amazon's deliberate cluster play, robot manufacturing at Greenwood within 30 miles of existing fulfillment infrastructure in Whiteland and Franklin, signals this is a permanent strategic anchor on the I-65 corridor, not a one-time investment.
Watch: Monitor the Greenwood City Council for any filings or compliance updates related to the inherited Scannell Properties tax abatement (originally secured May 2021 by Scannell Properties #529 LLC), which has a procedurally complicated history including a noncompliance waiver, the clock on that 10-year abatement is already running, making the remaining benefit window shorter than a greenfield project would receive.
For the huddle: Amazon is paying ~$100K average for CNC operators, welders, and controls engineers in Johnson County: are we tracking how many of those roles overlap with our own open requisitions, and do we have a retention plan ready before their 2028 hiring ramp begins pulling from the same talent pool we depend on?

02Statewide

AES Indiana's $71M Rate Hike: Phase 2 Hits in January While IURC Rehearing Stalls to March 2027

Phase one of AES Indiana's IURC-approved $71 million base-rate increase took effect July 27, 2026, per IURC spokesman Ben Gavelek, while Phase 2 (pegged by AES Indiana at approximately $8.50 per month for an average residential account) remains on track for January 2027, with the rehearing's one-day evidentiary hearing not scheduled until early March 2027. The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission approved the increase June 17 on a 3-1 vote over Governor Mike Braun's objection; the commission subsequently voted 3-1 to reconsider, but the rehearing does not freeze the rate increase, and the Office of Utility Consumer Counselor Abby Gray did not request a stay, meaning any refund would come after the bill. The Citizens Action Coalition, led by Program Director Ben Inskeep, won rehearing on two post-record developments: Google's planned Monrovia data center (Cause No. 46394, filed after AES allegedly denied knowledge of an imminent large load customer) and a GIP/BlackRock-led consortium's announced $10.7 billion acquisition of AES Corporation.

Impact: The structural mechanism buried in this story is the 'collect first, litigate later' dynamic that the IURC itself is now investigating through its concurrent review of utility return-on-equity levels and tracker mechanisms, a review that threatens all five Indiana investor-owned utilities, not just AES Indiana. The Google Monrovia data center disclosure issue is not merely a procedural CAC win: MISO and AES filings show the Monrovia substation is built for 1,200 MW of ultimate load, but Cause No. 46394 covers only the first 390 MW phase, meaning at least two more multi-hundred-megawatt approval rounds are coming, each with their own rate-case adjacency that could further move the cost baseline. For Indianapolis-area manufacturers, the January Phase 2 increase on residential accounts translates into meaningfully higher industrial rate structures, compounding the approximately 6% additional bill increase AES Indiana already signaled customers would see in 2026 from previously approved tracker projects, at the precise moment the GIP/BlackRock acquisition (expected to close late 2026/early 2027) transfers refund liability to new private owners rather than AES Corp's current public shareholders.
Watch: Watch the early March 2027 IURC evidentiary rehearing date on the AES Indiana Cause No. 46394 proceeding: specifically whether the commission's concurrent ROE and tracker investigation produces any interim guidance before that hearing that could affect whether Phase 2 rates are modified, frozen, or subject to expanded refund exposure.
For the huddle: Given that AES Indiana's Phase 2 increase hits in January and any refund comes after the bill (not before) have we modeled what our blended industrial energy rate looks like under the new base rate plus tracker charges, and does our 2027 operating budget reflect that number?

03Statewide

Indiana Becomes 41st NRC Agreement State, Clearing Path for SMR Development

Governor Mike Braun and NRC Chairman Ho K. Nieh signed an agreement September 24, 2026 making Indiana the 41st state to gain regulatory authority over byproduct, source, and special nuclear material: covering 213 academic, commercial, and medical facilities statewide, with Indiana's Department of Homeland Security taking over licensing, inspection, and enforcement. Braun framed the agreement as part of Indiana's 'all-of-the-above' energy cost strategy and cited progress on small modular reactors under Secretary of Energy and Natural Resources Suzanne Jaworowski; the move builds on Senate Enrolled Act 424 (introduced by Sen. Eric Koch, R-Bedford), which already allows investor-owned utilities to recover 80% of SMR development costs from ratepayers, often before construction begins. The agreement evolved beyond former Governor Eric Holcomb's original June 2021 letter of intent (which had excluded energy production) to now include power generation authority.

Impact: The under-reported regulatory arithmetic here works in two opposing directions simultaneously. On the accelerator side, Indiana Michigan Power/AEP, actively exploring the Rockport Plant in Spencer County as an SMR site and pursuing a $50 million DOE grant with TVA and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, can now route radioactive materials permitting through Indiana IDHS rather than the federal NRC queue, potentially compressing pre-application timelines. On the cost-risk side, SEA 424 allows utilities to recover SMR development costs through a rate schedule within three years, meaning charges could hit industrial bills by 2028-2029 for reactors that won't generate power until the mid-2030s at earliest, with no refund mechanism if projects are abandoned. Indiana Industrial Energy Consumers Inc., representing more than 20 of Indiana's largest energy users, explicitly flagged this risk during 2025 hearings, and a 2026 Indiana law simultaneously eliminated IDEM's authority to issue permits for new nuclear facilities or call public hearings on nuclear safety, meaning Indiana has expanded state authority on materials while contracting public-participation rights on the environmental side, a combination that creates fewer procedural checkpoints than in almost any other state.
Watch: Watch the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission for the first formal SMR development cost recovery petition filed under SEA 424: Indiana Michigan Power/AEP's Rockport Plant exploration and Indianapolis-based startup First American Nuclear's EAGL-1 regulatory engagement plan (submitted to the NRC in April 2026) are the two most likely first filers, and whichever petition arrives first will set the precedent for how ratepayer cost exposure is structured.
For the huddle: SEA 424 allows utilities to begin recovering SMR development costs from industrial ratepayers within three years (potentially by 2028-2029) for plants that won't generate power until the mid-2030s: have we mapped our energy contracts and rate structures to identify when and how that pre-construction cost recovery would hit our facility's bill?

04St. Joseph · New Carlisle

Samsung SDI Takes Full Control of New Carlisle Battery Plant, Pivots to Grid Storage

On August 11, 2026, Samsung SDI disclosed it had acquired General Motors' entire 49.99% stake in SynergyCells (formally SDI-GM Synergy Cells Holdings), converting the still-under-construction $3.5 billion, 680-acre battery plant in New Carlisle, Indiana into Samsung SDI's first wholly owned battery facility in North America, with financial terms undisclosed. Rather than launching with EV cells as originally planned, Samsung SDI will begin production with energy storage system batteries for the U.S. grid-storage market, including a dedicated ESS production line; GM cited 'slower-than-expected growth of EV demand' following the September 2025 expiration of the $7,500 federal BEV tax credit as the driver. The plant had originally been designed for 27 GWh of initial annual capacity (expandable to 36 GWh) producing nickel-rich NCA prismatic cells under Samsung's PRiMX brand, with mass production slated for fall 2027, but construction had reportedly slowed following May 2026 reports of a pause amid sluggish EV sales.

Impact: The chemistry question at New Carlisle is the buried operational wildcard: the plant was specified for nickel-rich NCA prismatic cells, but the ESS market runs predominantly on LFP chemistry, and TechTimes reporting confirms the building shell was completed with no production machinery installed, meaning Samsung SDI faces a full equipment fit-out decision where NCA-to-LFP retooling costs and timelines are unresolved and could push meaningful production well past the originally stated 2027 mass-production date. For the 1,600+ jobs originally promised, the ESS pivot likely delays and may permanently reduce the headcount ramp, since ESS lines are less labor-intensive per GWh than automotive cell lines, and with no OEM anchor customer driving urgency, the timeline is now governed entirely by Samsung SDI's internal capital allocation, the company has not yet finalized investment plans for New Carlisle per regulatory disclosures, meaning the $3.5 billion commitment is not guaranteed. Samsung SDI simultaneously operates the StarPlus Energy joint venture with Stellantis in Kokomo, giving it a two-site Indiana footprint just as SEIA data shows the U.S. grid-storage market installed a record 57.6 GWh in 2025, a market signal that validates the ESS pivot strategically even as the execution path remains open-ended.
Watch: Watch for Samsung SDI's formal capital allocation announcement for the New Carlisle facility, specifically whether it confirms LFP equipment fit-out (which would signal a definitive ESS-only launch) or NCA prismatic tooling (which would preserve the joint development agreement pathway for future GM EV cells), as that decision will determine both the 2027 production timeline and the actual job ramp.
For the huddle: Samsung SDI's New Carlisle plant is pivoting to ESS battery production for the grid-storage market rather than EV cells: does any part of our supply chain, customer base, or logistics network have exposure to that shift, either as a potential supplier to the facility or as a competitor for the same industrial workforce Samsung SDI will recruit when construction resumes?

05Statewide

Conexus Indiana Opens Rising 30 Class of 2027 Nominations Through December 1

Conexus Indiana opened nominations September 22, 2026 for the Rising 30 Class of 2027: the seventh annual program recognizing young professionals age 30 or younger in Indiana's advanced manufacturing and logistics sector, which employs more than 800,000 Hoosiers and represents roughly one-third of Indiana's GDP. Nominations are open through December 1, 2026, with honorees notified by mid-January 2027; the program is presented by Katz, Sapper & Miller (KSM), with Jordan Mayer, partner in KSM's Manufacturing & Distribution Services Group, urging employers to nominate rising leaders. The 2026 class included honorees from companies including Allegion, Jasper Engines & Transmissions, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana, Honda Indiana Auto Plant, Zimmer Biomet, Cummins, Lippert, and Fort Wayne Carbon Fiber, spanning roles from quality engineering and controls to supply chain, materials science, and IT.

Impact: The nomination calendar opened roughly six weeks earlier than the prior-year cadence, Conexus's own May 2026 announcement had said nominations would open 'in November', a pull-forward that appears deliberate under CEO Jay Wirts and suggests Conexus is competing for employer attention before year-end budget and performance-review cycles consume plant-leader bandwidth. The presenting sponsor shift from Purdue University (Class of 2025) to KSM (Classes of 2026 and 2027) is commercially significant: KSM, which launched a new investment banking practice in January 2026, gains first-mover access to an emerging generation of finance, operations, and supply-chain leaders at companies like Allegion, Zimmer Biomet, and Lippert before those professionals become M&A or transaction advisory clients, compressing a relationship-building cycle that typically takes years. For small and mid-sized Indiana manufacturers, the more urgent signal is that Rising 30 honorees in 2027 will feed directly into the AML Industry Talent Association, officially launched by Conexus in April 2026, whose mandate to define occupational standards for Robotics & Automation, Microelectronics, and Supply Chain means this year's nominees may help co-author the competency frameworks that govern how Ivy Tech and Purdue Polytechnic train the next generation of Indiana manufacturing workers.
Watch: Watch the mid-January 2027 Rising 30 honoree announcement for the distribution of employers and disciplines: specifically whether the 2027 class reflects the robotics, controls, and ESS-adjacent skills that Amazon's Greenwood ramp and Samsung SDI's New Carlisle ESS pivot will demand, which would signal whether Conexus's AML ITA competency framework is tracking to actual near-term employer needs.
For the huddle: The Rising 30 nomination deadline is December 1: do we have a rising leader on our team who is 30 or younger and deserves external recognition, and have we thought about what nominating them signals both internally about how we value talent development and externally about our company's profile in Indiana's AML community?

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