Manufacturing News
October 22, 2026
October 22, 2026 · Howard County · Story 2 of 5
Digital Realty's 1.5-Gigawatt Data Center Pitch Tests Indiana Grid Capacity in Kokomo
Digital Realty is proposing a three-building, 1-gigawatt data center campus on 476 acres in Kokomo, an investment Mayor Tyler Moore's office and other reporting have put anywhere from $1 billion to $3 billion, with completion targeted for 2033. The completed campus would draw about 1.5 gigawatts from Duke Energy, and the Kokomo Common Council already rezoned the site for data centers in September without adding stricter noise or utility rules, a decision that stands out because at least 28 Indiana counties and 10 cities, including Indianapolis through 2027, have passed data center moratoriums. That makes Kokomo one of the few places left in the state willing to take a project this size, and it means Howard County is now competing for the same Duke Energy generation queue slots the utility is also trying to fill with roughly 1.5 gigawatts of new gas capacity planned near Indianapolis and Plainfield. The Citizens Action Coalition has flagged that the noise and water commitments on this deal are voluntary, with no rule in place that forces the company to keep them if conditions change.
- Impact
- Kokomo deliberately skipped adding stricter noise or utility regulations when it rezoned in September: a calculated move that makes it one of the only open landing zones left as at least 28 Indiana counties and 10 municipalities, including Indianapolis through 2027, have enacted data center moratoriums. The 1.5GW interconnection request also lands directly inside Duke Energy's separate filing for ~1.5GW of new gas capacity for the Indianapolis-Plainfield corridor, meaning Kokomo's deal is competing for the same generation queue slots, while the Citizens Action Coalition notes current noise and water commitments are voluntary with no statutory ratepayer protection.
- Watch
- Watch for the finalized Duke Energy interconnection agreement and the economic development agreement, which a company representative said could be drafted within weeks.
- For the huddle
If this campus pulls skilled trades labor and drives up wages across Howard County the way comparable hyperscale builds have elsewhere, what's our retention plan for the next 2-3 years of construction activity?
Both projects are drawing on the same regional generation capacity your plant depends on, so the honest answer is to call your utility account representative this month and ask directly where your facility's expansion or backup power requests rank against these two projects, rather than finding out during a future outage or rate case.
Sources
- Digital Realty proposes 1GW data center campus in Indiana · datacenters.economictimes.indiatimes.com
Earlier coverage
From the brief, October 22, 2026
- Radiant's Kaleidos Microreactor Headed to NSWC Crane in Martin County
- Digital Realty's 1.5-Gigawatt Data Center Pitch Tests Indiana Grid Capacity in Kokomo
- Sutton-Garten Opens a 17,000-Square-Foot Dry Ice Plant in East Chicago
- Cleveland-Cliffs Delays Burns Harbor Blast Furnace Reline a Third Time
- Brightray's 10-Megawatt Data Center Letter of Intent Names No Indiana Site
This story
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- AES Indiana Rate Hike Fight Collides With $737 Million Google Data Center Deal
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