If Indiana Michigan Power's new generation is timed to match the AWS New Carlisle campus ramp, what happens to grid reliability for our plant if that data center's actual load ramps faster than AEP's build-out schedule?

AEP's 3.1 gigawatt pending load figure depends on the Sycamore Riverside acquisition clearing the IURC in December, so a faster AWS ramp than that schedule allows is worth raising with your utility account manager now, before the order lands.

With Samsung SDI's Kokomo plant pivoting toward ESS cells while Stellantis expands a gasoline engine line at the same site, should we re-examine capital plans still built around an EV timeline?

Yes. Three of Starplus Energy's four lines have converted from EV to storage production and roughly two-thirds of the current $8.5 billion national auto component investment wave is going into gasoline and transmission tooling, not EV lines.

Are any of our facilities located in one of the 25 Indiana counties that have already enacted a data center moratorium?

Check your county against that list directly, since local resistance to data center permitting in those counties could carry over to industrial expansion permitting for unrelated projects.

Are any of our fixed-price customer contracts locked in before this year's steel and aluminum tariff increases?

Given that at least one Indiana manufacturer has seen a key input rise from $20 to $200 per pound under Section 232, pull your fixed-price contracts signed before this year's tariff increases and calculate exactly how much margin you are absorbing on orders still shipping under those terms.

Manufacturing News TEG Daily

November 4, 2026 · Howard · Porter · Sullivan · St. Joseph · NIPSCO · IM AEP

Samsung SDI's Kokomo Battery Ramp and AEP's 3.1 GW Load Problem Show What Indiana Manufacturers Are Competing Against

AEP's 3.1 GW of pending Indiana data center load, Samsung SDI's Kokomo battery ramp, and a nuclear pitch show what Indiana manufacturers are up against.

Daniel BurkePublished every day

Samsung SDI started shipping lithium iron phosphate battery cells out of its Kokomo plant this month to fill more than 60 gigawatt-hours of U.S. storage orders, the same week AEP disclosed that its Indiana utility must serve 3.1 gigawatts of pending data center load. Both stories point to the same underlying fact for Indiana manufacturers: the state's electric grid is being built out around a handful of massive new customers, and your facility's rates and reliability depend on how that build-out goes. Here's what happened in Howard, Sullivan and Porter counties this week, and what it means for your plant floor.

01Howard

Samsung SDI Begins Kokomo LFP Battery Shipments on 60 GWh Order Book

Samsung SDI began mass-producing prismatic LFP cells for energy storage at its Starplus Energy plant in Kokomo in early October, with cell shipments starting mid-October and finished Battery Box units reaching customers in December. Executive Vice President Cho Yong-hwi said the company has booked more than 60 gigawatt-hours of U.S. storage orders this year, enough to run the Kokomo and Ulsan, South Korea lines at full capacity through 2028.

For the huddle: If Starplus Energy's EV lines keep getting deferred in favor of ESS, should we be rethinking which of our own supplier contracts assume Kokomo is primarily an EV battery source versus a grid-storage cell source?

SourcesSamsung SDI books 60 GWh of U.S. storage orders and begins Indiana LFP ESS production (en.sedaily.com)

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02Porter

Indiana Office of Energy Development Pitches Nuclear and SMRs Amid Data Center Moratoriums

At an Oct. 30 economic outlook event in Valparaiso, Luke Wilson, chief policy officer at the Indiana Office of Energy Development, told attendees the state needs to replace 500 megawatts of generation by 2035 as 6.8 gigawatts of coal plants retire by 2036, and pitched converting retiring coal sites to small modular reactors at a 15 to 35 percent capital cost savings over new construction.

For the huddle: Are any of our facilities located in one of the 25 counties that have already enacted a data-center moratorium, and could that same local political resistance eventually slow permitting for our own industrial expansions?

SourcesData center growth spurs call for nuclear power plants in Indiana (chicagotribune.com)

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03Sullivan · St. Joseph

AEP Creates AEP Infrastructure Unit as Indiana Michigan Power Races to Serve 3.1 GW of Data Center Load

American Electric Power announced Nov. 3 that it is creating a new business unit, AEP Infrastructure, led by Greg Hall and reporting to CEO Bill Fehrman, to house competitive generation as the company responds to what Fehrman called once-in-a-generation load growth.

For the huddle: If I&M's new generation capacity is timed to match AWS's New Carlisle ramp, what happens to grid reliability for our plants if that campus's actual load ramps faster or slower than AEP's build-out schedule?

SourcesAEP Creates Infrastructure Business Unit to Support Growing Energy Demand (prnewswire.com)

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04Howard

$8.5 Billion Auto Component Wave Includes Stellantis Kokomo Engine Line Expansion

Industrial Info Resources is tracking $8.5 billion in active and planned North American auto component capital projects, up 29 percent from $6.6 billion just four months ago, with about 80 percent of that investment in the U.S. GM leads with $1.9 billion including an $888 million Tonawanda, New York engine plant. In Kokomo, Stellantis is installing a new assembly line so that production of a fresh four-cylinder GMET4 EVO gasoline engine can start before 2026 ends.

For the huddle: Given that two-thirds of this $8.5 billion wave is flowing into traditional gasoline engine and transmission tooling rather than EV lines, are our own capital plans still calibrated to an EV timeline the broader industry is now quietly walking back?

SourcesU.S., Canada Auto Component Manufacturing Brings $8.5 Billion in Capital Investment (industrialinfo.com)

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05Statewide

September Factory Orders Beat Expectations as Tariff-Driven Margin Squeeze Builds

The Commerce Department reported Nov. 3 that U.S. factory orders rose 1.8 percent in September to $677.2 billion, beating the 1.2 percent consensus, with transportation equipment up 4.6 percent and machinery, computers and electronics, fabricated metals and primary metals all posting gains.

For the huddle: Are any of our fixed-price customer contracts locked in before this year's steel and aluminum tariff increases, and if so, how much margin are we absorbing as those orders ship?

SourcesUS factory orders beat expectations in September amid broad strength (tradingview.com)

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