INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Governor Mike Braun said companies looking to bring data centers to the Hoosier state will need to make their case to local residents. He's weighing in after Google withdrew its rezoning petition for a possible data center in Franklin Township.
Tuesday night, WRTV’s Amber Grigley attended a meeting on the northeast side, where residents learned more about the company behind it.
"The state has created incentives for more data centers to come here, and the primary reason why Google chose Indianapolis in the first place," Councilor Ron Gibson said.
Gibson said he received the call about Metrobloks almost three months ago.
"This proposed data center is on a much smaller scale. It's about 10 acres of a former drive-in called Sherman Drive-In. It's been vacant for the last 40 years. And so, this potential opportunity does a lot in terms of vacant and abandoned properties in my district. It creates real economic development and creates real opportunities, but I initially indicated my support, but my residents have got to buy into it," Gibson said.
A process that started Tuesday night at Fredrick Douglass Park.
At the request of "One Voice Martindale Brightwood," we could not bring our cameras inside the meeting to allow residents to speak freely, but WRTV’s Amber Grigley was able to sit inside and hear all of the concerns residents shared with Metrobloks' CEO.
"The first thing that stood out to me was just the passion that the community brings. I loved it. You know, I didn't expect to have all the answers. We're very early on in the process," Ernest Popescu, CEO of Metrobloks, said.
Popescu said he founded Metrobloks to bring local multi-tenanted metropolitan urban data centers close to internet exchange points. Right now, they have centers in six metropolitan areas, including Phoenix, Miami and Kansas City, plus a few in Europe. Metrobloks is hoping to add this location on North Sherman Drive to the list.
"Data centers need a few conditions to exist and come to market, come to fruition. It's power, it's having the right zoning, and its fiber, you know, that location happened to have everything," Popescu said.
Questions ranged from neighborhood benefits to health concerns, and property and utility costs.
"A large part is divided by states with economic incentives versus states that don't have economic incentives. While the economic incentives are certainly what made this attractive," Popescu said.
"Thank goodness our legislature passed a minimum amount that any data center will have to put into it. Again, to protect ratepayers, and I'm looking not for just 80% of the cost of generation," Governor Mike Braun said.
Governor Braun weighed in following Google’s decision to withdraw its rezoning petition for a data center site.
"Any data center is going to have to expect that, since one could use up to 5% of our current generation, they're going to have to be responsible for paying for it and then ideally making the case of the community benefits," Braun said.
Tuesday night, Metrobloks told residents the data center will use very little water, between 2,000-3,000 gallons. The company will handle the full cost for the investment, tariffs and real estate taxes.
Gibson said he's on board, but not without the green light from residents.
"I know how it is to be left out of a decision process. I'm all about engaging in the process. If my neighborhood leaders tell me that this is not good for us, I will sign off. I know how it is to be left out of a decision process. I'm all about engaging in the process. If my neighborhood leaders tell me that this is not good for us, I will sign off," Gibson said.
So, what's next?
Metrobloks plans to spend the next few months holding informational input sessions like the one held Tuesday night and meeting with neighborhood leaders before filing an official proposal.
