Indiana manufacturing investment accelerated over the past week, with four developments that hit your capital plans, supply chain, and electricity costs at the same time. Evonik is putting $100 million into its Lafayette pharmaceutical site, the Pentagon took a $25 million equity stake in a Marion rare earth refinery, and the OUCC's rehearing petition against AES Indiana's $71 million rate hike is now on a 60-day clock that could lock Central Indiana electricity input costs through 2030. Here's what each one means for the plant floor.

Evonik Commits $100M to Modernize Tippecanoe Labs in Lafayette

Evonik announced on July 8 a $100 million, five-year investment to modernize its Tippecanoe Labs site in Shadeland (Tippecanoe County) — one of the world's largest active pharmaceutical ingredient facilities and Evonik's second-largest North American site — protecting more than 650 jobs. The move is part of a deliberate shift of assets from Europe to North America; Evonik sold its Hanau, Germany pharmaceutical ingredients business in June and is reinvesting the proceeds here. It's also timed to Section 232 pharmaceutical tariffs, effective July 31 for Annex III companies, that impose a default 100% charge on patented drug APIs unless the sponsor files an approved onshoring plan for a reduced 20% rate. If your API or specialty-chemical suppliers are going through the same European rationalization, your lead times and allocation priorities may already be tightening.

Pentagon Takes a $25M Equity Stake in ReElement's Marion Rare Earth Refinery

The Department of War announced on July 13 a $25 million equity investment — with warrants retained — in ReElement Technologies to expand rare earth and critical minerals refining at its 400,000-square-foot Marion facility (Grant County). That structure replaced an earlier $80 million conditional loan ReElement withdrew from after struggling with federal due-diligence requirements, shifting execution risk back onto ReElement's balance sheet. China's export bans on gallium and germanium — two materials the Marion lines are built to process — are suspended only until November 27, 2026. If ReElement's first commercial line (targeted for Q3 2026) slips, defense and high-tech contractors drawing down inventory face a re-licensing crunch, and there is no domestic refiner at commercial scale for these outputs today.

AES Indiana Rate Rehearing Puts Central Indiana Electricity Costs on a 60-Day Clock

The Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor filed its rehearing petition against AES Indiana's $71 million rate hike on July 7, the final day of the 20-day statutory window. The IURC now has 60 days to act, with a decision expected before mid-September. The core argument is a 40-basis-point ROE penalty — cutting the approved 9.5% return on equity to 9.1% over billing-system failures that affected 65,000 customers after a 2023 platform switch. Under House Enrolled Act 1002, AES Indiana cannot file another base rate case until 2030, so whatever cost-recovery level this rehearing sets governs your electricity input costs for nearly four years. Model both the 9.5% and 9.1% scenarios before the clock runs out.

Indiana Manufacturing Investment Is Concentrating on Vendors and Contractors

Consolidated Grain and Barge is moving forward with a $47 million warehouse and storage expansion at its Mount Vernon facility (Posey County), putting Indiana in the national Top 10 for June capital projects against a $774 billion U.S. manufacturing capex backdrop. June's project list skewed heavily toward renovation and equipment upgrades rather than greenfield builds — the same pattern as Evonik at Tippecanoe. That concentrates demand on equipment vendors and specialty contractors, and that pool is finite. If you have capital upgrades planned, secure your contractor and equipment vendor relationships before the regional buildout absorbs available capacity through 2027.

Questions for Your Morning Huddle

Q: Does the AES Indiana rate rehearing change what we should budget for electricity through 2030?
A: Yes — under House Enrolled Act 1002, AES Indiana cannot file another base rate case until 2030, so the cost-recovery level set on rehearing governs your electricity input costs for nearly four years. Model both the 9.5% and 9.1% ROE scenarios before the IURC's 60-day clock expires in mid-September.

Q: Do we have any gallium or germanium exposure in our supply chain before November 27?
A: If any defense or high-tech component suppliers source gallium or germanium from Chinese origin, the export-ban suspension expires November 27, 2026, and there is no domestic refiner at commercial scale for these outputs yet. Map that exposure now rather than waiting for the suspension to lapse.

Q: Should we lock in contractor and equipment vendor relationships now?
A: If you have capital upgrades planned, yes — June's project list skewed toward renovation and equipment work, which concentrates demand on a finite pool of equipment vendors and specialty contractors. Secure those relationships before the regional buildout absorbs capacity through 2027.

The through-line across all four developments is that capital planning, supply chain exposure, and electricity cost modeling are no longer separate conversations — they are the same decision. For a structured way to pressure-test where your facility sits on all three, start with the TEG Energy Decision Blueprint.

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