Duke Energy Indiana Adds Three Sites, One Already Has a Likely Tenant

Briefing note

Duke Energy Indiana selected the Taylorsville Industrial Park Site (three parcels totaling 21.5 to 68 acres near U.S. 31 and I-65, owned by Force Holdings LLC and Palladin LLC) as one of three properties in its 2026 Site Readiness Program, partnering with the Greater Columbus Economic Development Corp. to market it nationally. The site sits next to the recently opened $54 million Grillo's Pickles plant and the forthcoming $175 million King's Hawaiian bakery, both owned by Irresistible Foods Group (IFG).

Impact

IFG's own leadership has described building its 88-acre King's Hawaiian campus 'in phases,' raising a question The Republic's coverage never asks: is IFG itself (via sister brands like Killer Brownie Company or Innovation Bakers) the most likely tenant for these Duke-marketed parcels? If so, the national marketing push may be validating land already earmarked for a known occupant rather than genuinely competing for new-to-market employers, and the real gating item is a modest up-to-$1 million READI 2.0 grant for road work at US-31/Bear Lane and CR 700N.

Watch

Whether IFG or an outside food/CPG prospect is the first to announce on the Duke-marketed Taylorsville parcels, and completion of the READI 2.0-funded intersection and road extension that currently constrains heavy truck access.

Briefing note

Duke Energy Indiana announced Sept. 29-30, 2026 that it added the Taylorsville Industrial Site (Bartholomew County), the I-74 St. Leon Alig Site at the I-74/State Road 1 interchange (Dearborn County), and an 87-acre I-69 frontage site at 3100 W. Fullerton Pike in Bloomington (Monroe County) to its 2026 Site Readiness Program. Since the program launched in 2013, Duke says it has prepared 53 properties, landing 32 major projects, more than 10,300 jobs, and nearly $15 billion in capital investment statewide, and $22 billion and 17,000 jobs over the last five years including this program.

Impact

Duke Energy Indiana's Site Readiness Program is a structural competitive moat against rival utilities: AES Indiana spent 'over $1 million' on economic development broadly in 2025 with no comparable structured site pipeline, and CenterPoint Energy in southwest Indiana has no published equivalent. That means counties inside Duke's 69-county, 23,000-square-mile territory get pre-vetted, nationally marketed shovel-ready sites before competing utility territories can even present an option to a site selector.

Watch

Whether AES Indiana or CenterPoint Energy announce a comparable site-readiness program in response, and any 2027 additions to Duke's prepared-site inventory.