Amazon's Indiana Data Center: Model the Grid Capacity Pressure Now

The IURC has approved NiSource's GenCo affiliate to provide dedicated electric service to Amazon's Indiana data centers, a 2,800-megawatt commitment through 2032, with NiSource raising its five-year capital plan 45 percent to $28 billion. A second hyperscaler deal with Alphabet begins service this summer.

NiSource's argument is that the dedicated GenCo structure keeps hyperscaler load isolated from the general grid. The Citizens Action Coalition and the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor are contesting that framing in appeals they've already filed. Any appellate delay directly threatens the January 2027 initial energization target that Indiana equipment and engineering suppliers are already pricing into contracts.

Regardless of how the appeal resolves, the grid capacity pressure for manufacturers is real: MISO projects Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan growing at 2.7 percent annually, with data center peak demand in MISO climbing from 1.2 gigawatts today to 20.5 gigawatts by 2030. Transmission constraints, shared interconnection queue position, and supply-chain competition for the same turbines and transformers create headroom pressure your next capacity planning cycle needs to account for.