Graded Light and tightening. 11 laws, orders, rulings and local actions, each with its source, reviewed 23 October 2026.
The I&M settlement of 19 Feb 2025 puts 70 MW loads on reviewed contracts with commission sign-off on capacity cuts above 20%; HEA 1007 speeds generation.
HEA 1007 (6 May 2025) makes 150 MW loads reimburse at least 80% of allocable project costs; I&M and NIPSCO (June 2026) contracts add customer-paid generation.
By Sept 2026, 25 of 92 counties had moratoria and three had bans, and Indianapolis blocked new data centers through 31 Dec 2027 (council vote 10 Aug 2026).
The 2019 sales tax exemption is intact; HB 1210, signed 12 March 2026, only requires a local agreement before a certificate is used.
No water, air permit or disclosure rule for data centers is in force at state level.
Scored on rules in force, 1 to 5. 5 is the most regulated. Pending rules set the arrow.
State incentives remain in place: the 2019 sales tax exemption survived a 2026 repeal attempt, and the 2025 energy law (HEA 1007) speeds approval of generation for large loads while requiring those customers to reimburse at least 80% of project costs. Most of the new rules are local. Indiana University researchers counted 25 of 92 counties with moratoria and three with bans by September 2026, and Marion County (Indianapolis) halted new data centers through 31 December 2027. Lawmakers responded in 2026 with HB 1210, which requires an exempt data center user to sign an agreement with the local unit before using its tax certificate, rather than limits on local control; a 1% local revenue share passed the House in HB 1333 but that bill died in the Senate.
The 2027 budget session begins in January and is likely to revisit the exemption, local revenue sharing and local control, after HB 1333's 1% local share died in the Senate Utilities Committee in 2026. The Indianapolis pause runs to 31 December 2027 while a committee writes zoning standards for the Marion County code. County moratoria kept spreading through the summer, with Washington County's 12-month pause in August 2026 and Switzerland County's one-year pause on 31 August 2026, and more are being considered. At the commission, the NIPSCO special contract and generation for Amazon's northern Indiana data centers were approved on 17 June 2026, and the Indiana Michigan Power large-load terms of February 2025 remain the template for other utilities.
No statewide moratorium, but 3 local pauses are in force as of 23 October 2026, in Indianapolis / Marion County, Statewide counties, Washington County. Proposals and expired pauses are not counted.
Tightening. Indiana is graded Light, which means incentives in place and few new obligations. State still recruits; 25 counties and Indianapolis have paused data centers. The outlook above says what is pending.
Indiana sits in PJM and MISO. The grid operator decides how a new large load is studied, what it must bring or pay, and whether it can be curtailed first; the state decides siting, permits, tariffs and incentives.
No. Indiana's data center incentives were not pulled back in 2025 or 2026 as of 23 October 2026.
On Genloop's five-line rubric (1 least regulated, 5 most) Indiana scores grid connection 2, power rates 3, siting and land use 4, tax treatment 2, permits and water 1, a mean of 2.4. The most regulated line is siting and land use: By Sept 2026, 25 of 92 counties had moratoria and three had bans, and Indianapolis blocked new data centers through 31 Dec 2027 (council vote 10 Aug 2026).
11 items: each is a law, order, tariff, ruling, utility action or local decision that changes what a data center must do, pay or disclose, or where it may be built. Failed and pending measures are marked. Each links to its source.
By early September 2026, 25 of Indiana's 92 counties had data center moratoria and three had bans (Marshall and Cass were named in July). Switzerland County adopted a one-year moratorium on 31 August 2026; Jefferson County declined to start one.
Source: bondbuyer.comThe City-County Council voted 23 to 1 on 10 August 2026 and the Metropolitan Development Commission voted 6 to 0 on 19 August 2026 to block new data centers until at least 31 December 2027. The rule adds a definition of data center to the zoning code and sets up a committee to study standards. Three approved projects (DC Blox, Metrobloks, Sabey) are not affected.
Source: wfyi.orgCounty commissioners approved by voice vote a moratorium on commercial and large-scale data center development, reported 5 August 2026. It covers structures over 2,000 square feet built mainly to house data-processing equipment and lasts until a data center ordinance is adopted or 12 months pass.
Source: cpo.soar.comAs of July 2026 the Environmental Resilience Institute counted 11 counties with data center ordinances, at least 17 with temporary moratoria and 2 with bans, nearly a third of all counties.
Source: wfyi.orgAccording to parent company NiSource, the commission on 17 June 2026 approved in full a settlement, a special contract with Amazon and a related power purchase agreement for new data centers in northern Indiana, and in a separate order approved the gas combined-cycle and battery storage resources to serve them. The data center customer funds the generation and transmission built for it and existing customers receive bill credits as the load ramps up; NiSource projects about $1.4 billion in savings for existing customers. The company release does not give megawatts or cause numbers.
Source: businesswire.comHB 1210 (Public Law 157), signed 12 March 2026, requires a qualified data center user to sign an agreement with the local unit before using a transaction award certificate. The House version of HB 1333 would have required the user to pay at least 1% of the exempt sales tax on equipment to local government for certificates issued after 30 June 2026, but HB 1333 died in the Senate Utilities Committee after a 5 February 2026 referral; whether the 1% share was enacted through HB 1210's conference report could not be confirmed from a source opened.
Source: legiscan.comAs introduced by Rep. Kendell Culp the bill would have eliminated the state sales and use tax exemption for data centers. On 20 January 2026 the House Utilities, Energy and Telecommunications Committee amended it to remove the repeal and substitute a requirement that data center users give at least 1% of their sales tax savings to local governments. The amended bill passed the House 54 to 45 on 2 February 2026 and died in the Senate Utilities Committee.
Source: legiscan.comSigned 6 May 2025. Applies to customers adding more than the lesser of 150 MW or 5% of the utility's average peak, with over $500 million invested. They must reimburse at least 80% of project costs allocable to them; the commission must rule on generation plans in 90 days and specific projects in 150 days. Also creates a 20% tax credit for manufacturing small modular reactors.
Source: taftlaw.comSigned 10 April 2025 as Public Law 48. Utilities may seek commission approval to incur small modular reactor development costs before a certificate is issued, and must recover 80% of approved costs through the approved rate schedule over the shorter of the incurrence period or three years, with the other 20% deferred to the next general rate case.
Source: legiscan.comApproved 19 February 2025 in a settlement with Amazon, Google, Microsoft and consumer advocates. Applies to new or expanded loads of 70 MW or more (150 MW across one company); any planned cut of more than 20% in contracted capacity needs commission review.
Source: utilitydive.comIn place since 2019 (HB 1405). Exempts equipment and electricity from the 7% sales tax for 25 years, or 50 years at $750 million of investment. Minimum investment is $25 million to $150 million depending on county population. A 2025 amendment extended it to quantum and advanced computing with a $50 million minimum.
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