Data Center Load and a 1,520-MW Gas Filing Collide on the Indiana Grid

At the 2026 Indiana Ag Policy Summit in Columbus on July 29, IURC Commissioner Bob Deig, a Braun appointee, joined a fireside chat where data center grid load was the dominant tension. Indiana Michigan Power is already proposing rate decreases in territories where data center revenue, including Google's Fort Wayne site, offsets costs. At a 1,000 kWh residential baseline, NIPSCO runs roughly $78 per month above Duke Energy Indiana, and the industrial spread runs in a similar direction, though the mechanics differ by tariff class. House Bill 1007 requires proposed data centers to cover 80 percent of increased generation costs, and Deig is responsible for enforcing that mechanism, but no compliance timeline or enforcement process has been published. Whether data center load growth gets socialized onto your industrial rate is structurally unresolved.

On July 20, I&M filed a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity with the IURC to build the 1,520-megawatt Rockport Energy Center, a natural gas combined-cycle facility in Spencer County replacing two retiring coal units. An IURC decision is expected in early 2027, construction would begin that year, and commercial operation is targeted for summer 2030, roughly 1,200 construction jobs and 30 to 40 permanent roles. I&M states the project is already incorporated into its upcoming rate reduction filing and non-fuel rate freeze. The binding constraint here is turbine supply rather than regulatory approval. GE Vernova, Siemens Energy, and Mitsubishi Power are all running record backlogs with lead times stretching up to eight years. AEP disclosed on its Q2 2026 earnings call that it has secured 13 gigawatts of gas turbine capacity across fleet plans through 2031; whether Rockport's specific 1,520 megawatts sits inside that reservation has not been publicly confirmed. A decision delay past early 2027 puts the project in direct competition with every other AEP build for those slots.

J.M. Hutton Commits $6.25 Million to a Richmond Truck Cab Line

J.M. Hutton & Company, a precision metal fabricator in Richmond, is investing $6.25 million in a new truck cab line and projects 37 new jobs by 2029, its first large capital commitment under new ownership. The line targets the EPA 2027 greenhouse gas OEM sourcing window. The incentive package is performance-based with a cliff at year-end 2029, which puts hiring and output milestones on a fixed clock for Hutton and for anyone quoting into that supply chain.