Manufacturing News
September 22, 2026
September 22, 2026 · Statewide · Story 3 of 3
$200 Billion From Illinois to Indiana: How Data Center Migration Is Raising Your MISO Costs
Andy Cvengros, Executive Managing Director and Co-Lead of JLL's U.S. Data Center Markets team, told RE Journals that at least $200 billion in data center projects originally planned for Illinois have been built elsewhere, with northwest and northeast Indiana among the primary landing zones. JLL's midyear 2026 North America report tracks northern Indiana at 1,206 megawatts of existing and under-construction capacity. Cvengros noted that market "did not exist two years ago."
The structural drivers: Illinois' BIPA liability exposure, ComEd's higher deposit requirements, and a July 1st pause in Illinois' data center incentive program.
Here is the cost dynamic Indiana plant leaders are not yet pricing in. NIPSCO's average residential bills rose 26.7% in the twelve months ending July 2025 (the highest increase of any Indiana utility) driven substantially by data center load growth. PJM capacity auction prices rose $9.3 billion in the 2025-26 auction cycle for the same reason, and MISO Zone 6 has seen directional pressure consistent with that trend.
Named manufacturers, U.S. Steel and NLMK Indiana, are already parties in the NIPSCO rate case. The IURC has opened a sub-docket to consider a large-load tariff for hyperscale customers. If that tariff is finalized on terms similar to what has been proposed, it narrows, but does not eliminate, Indiana's cost advantage over Illinois, because BIPA liability and the Illinois incentive pause are structural factors a tariff alone does not resolve.
Use PJM's $9.3 billion auction swing as a directional reference when stress-testing your 2027 and 2028 energy budgets. The timing and magnitude of any MISO impact depend on final tariff design, but the direction of travel is not ambiguous.
For more on the IURC large-load tariff proceedings and what Indiana manufacturers should be tracking, see GenCo Appeal Puts the NIPSCO Rate Increase Path Back in Front of Indiana Manufacturers.
For your morning huddle
- Q
Why did NIPSCO residential rates rise 26.7%, and what does that signal for industrial customers in northern Indiana?
Data center load growth in northern Indiana is the primary driver. A residential rate increase of that magnitude in a single year reflects grid infrastructure investment being recovered from the existing ratepayer base (including industrial customers) while the new large loads that drove the investment are still moving through the rate case and tariff process. The IURC large-load tariff sub-docket is meant to address this, but it has not closed. Until it does, you are exposed to continued cost allocation pressure. Audit your current NIPSCO bill for MISO capacity charges and tracker line items before Q1 planning closes.
From the brief, September 22, 2026
- NIPSCO Schahfer and CenterPoint Culley: What the Fourth DOE Order Actually Means for Your Bill
- DataOne's $7.5 Billion Frankfort AI Factory: What the September 28 Council Vote Won't Answer
- $200 Billion From Illinois to Indiana: How Data Center Migration Is Raising Your MISO Costs
TEG Daily, before your morning huddle
A short Indiana energy and manufacturing scan, delivered before the workday starts.
Related
- Indiana Semiconductor Fab Delay, NWI Coal Surcharge & Semiconductor Workforce Gap | TEG Daily September 21, 2026
- Utility Cost Allocation for Data Centers: How Indiana Manufacturers Avoid Paying for Grid Buildout They Didn't Cause
- GenCo Appeal Puts the NIPSCO Rate Increase Path Back in Front of Indiana Manufacturers
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