July 30, 2026 · Clark · Tippecanoe · Hendricks
CS PowerTech Opens $1B Jeffersonville Plant as Braun Orders Indiana Coal Plant Review
CS PowerTech opened a $1B Jeffersonville solar cell plant as Braun ordered an Indiana coal plant review, what both mean for your labor and power costs.
CS PowerTech opened the first phase of America's first HJT solar cell plant in Jeffersonville on July 24, and Governor Braun ordered an Indiana coal plant review the same week, one tightens the Clark County wage floor, the other decides how much additional MISO cost lands on your electricity bill. Nearly $1 billion, 1,200 jobs, and Phase 2 construction starting before December 31 in Clark County. Three developments from July 30 that hit Indiana C&I labor costs, power costs, and supplier qualification timelines.
01Statewide
CS PowerTech Opens First U.S. HJT Cell Plant at River Ridge
CS PowerTech, the U.S. subsidiary of Canadian Solar, opened 750,000 square feet at River Ridge Commerce Center in Jeffersonville. Phase 1 is running at 2.1 gigawatts against a full buildout target above 6 gigawatts annually.
02Statewide
Braun Orders Indiana Coal Plant Review as MISO Costs Already Run
Governor Braun directed Indiana's Secretary of Energy and Natural Resources to identify opportunities to reopen retired coal plants or delay retirement of existing units, citing AI data center load growth. Keep two legal frameworks separate: the federal DOE Section 202(c) emergency orders currently keeping Schahfer and Culley online rest on a reliability-emergency rationale, while the state Indiana coal plant review rests on projected load growth.
03Statewide
Purdue-GeChi Silicon Carbide MOU Opens an 18-Month Supplier Window
The July 29 Taiwan delegation visit generated the headlines, but the substantive event happened May 27, when Purdue Research Foundation and GeChi Compound Semiconductor signed a formal five-year MOU targeting scale-up of silicon carbide substrates to 8- and 12-inch wafers.
Questions for Your Morning Huddle
Q: How much additional electricity cost could the Indiana coal plant review put on my bill?
A: No number is set yet, but the existing federal emergency orders already run about $174,000 per day at Schahfer, spread across MISO ratepayers in 11 states. Model your annual electricity spend against a further life-extension order now, before the Secretary's review produces a recommendation.
Q: Should I re-baseline my Clark County compensation before Phase 2 breaks ground?
A: Yes. CS PowerTech's 1,200 jobs and CTDI's 400-job expansion pull from the same labor pool against a $27.25 baseline. Run your benchmarks against a $30-an-hour scenario and decide whether you adjust ahead of the hiring wave or after it.
Q: The Fed held rates, does that change how I finance a capex project this quarter?
A: The 9-3 hold leaves a September increase priced at roughly 57 to 60%. For any project you finance in the next 90 days, confirm whether you are on a fixed or variable structure before you sign, because a variable rate reprices into that meeting.
This brief
More from Clark County
- Rolls-Royce's $1B Indianapolis Campus, Indiana's Nuclear MOU for CANDU Reactors, and Cleveland-Cliffs' Burns Harbor Delay: What Indiana Manufacturers Need to Watch
- Nucor's $105M Crawfordsville Expansion, Ozinga's East Chicago Cement Mill, and a Fatal Accident at Burns Harbor: What Indiana Manufacturers Need to Know
- Nucor's $105 Million Crawfordsville Expansion, SEL's $25 Million West Lafayette Bet, and Indiana's Industrial Property Tax Increase for 2027
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