Compute Institute
Ratings for the physical buildout of AI

Jurisdiction Index / US — Indiana (MISO)

US — Indiana (MISO)

Tier 2 · Competitive
Positive
Rank #2 of 32
Data confidence A
72.4 /100

JCI composite · as of · methodology v0

US — Indiana (MISO) scores 72.4/100 on the Compute Institute Jurisdiction Competitiveness Index (Tier 2, Competitive), ranking #2 of 32 rated jurisdictions with a positive outlook, as of July 3, 2026 under methodology v0. Its strongest dimension is Capital & Ecosystem Depth at 8.7/10; its weakest is Power Cost at 5.1/10. 20 of 22 sub-factors are scored on E1–E2 evidence (data confidence A). The positive outlook is driven by 2 forward-looking signals (+3.85 net points, E3–E4 evidence): permitting regime (E3) and observed construction velocity (E3).

Dimension breakdown

Seven dimensions, each 0–10, weighted per methodology v0. JCI = Σ(dimension × weight) × 10.

Power Availability & Deliverability

6.5 /10 weight 20%

Power Cost

5.1 /10 weight 12.5%

Speed to Build

7 /10 weight 17.5%

Regulatory & AI Policy Environment

7.4 /10 weight 12.5%

Fiscal & Incentives

8 /10 weight 10%

Capital & Ecosystem Depth

8.7 /10 weight 12.5%

Stability & Execution Risk

8.6 /10 weight 15%

Outlook drivers — Positive (+3.85 net points)

Forward-looking E3–E4 signals. They move the outlook only — never the base score.

  • Permitting regime
    E3
    +1.40 pts as of
    “VERIFIED (source re-checked via corroborating reporting; direct fetch 403'd). Confirmed against Fox59/WFYI reporting: Indianapolis/Marion County moratorium runs through May 7, 2027 and the MDC's new SU-47 special-use district is real (requires full rezoning + public hearing per data center, 65 dB property-line limit, 200-ft residential separation). One caveat: the council's moratorium is a non-binding resolution that 'does not carry the force of law' (IBJ: council 'advances data center zoning district, ignores calls for moratorium') — but SU-47 is a binding permitting friction, so the below-10 cap is justified regardless. Cooperative northern counties still deliver sub-18mo greenfield shells (Project Rainier, corroborated by CNBC) under Indiana's data-center sales-tax exemption (IC 6-2.5-15, up to 50yr for >$750M). Fragmented regime supports 7.”

    Source: WFYI / Fox59 — Indianapolis data-center moratorium & SU-47 zoning (fox59.com)

  • Observed construction velocity
    E3
    +2.45 pts as of
    “VERIFIED (direct fetch 403'd; every cited fact independently confirmed via CNBC/WSBT/DCD reporting). Amazon Project Rainier (New Carlisle) broke ground Sept 2024 and reached operations Oct 2025, with 7 of 30 planned buildings energized within ~7 months on a 1,200-acre campus drawing >2.2 GW, $11B investment. Among the fastest US groundbreaking-to-energization paces observed. Score 9 holds.”

    Source: CNBC — Amazon opens $11B Project Rainier AI data center in Indiana (www.cnbc.com)

Sub-factor scores and sources

Every base-scored input below carries E1–E2 evidence: a justification, an evidence-level grade, and a link to the underlying source document.

Power Availability & Deliverability — 6.5/10 (weight 20%)

Sub-factor
Score
Justification
Evidence
Source
Grid headroom 40% of dimension 5 /10 VERIFIED (source is primary/authoritative MISO planning material about the MISO footprint incl. Indiana/MISO Central). The cited PDF is image-based so figures were re-confirmed against MISO's own long-range forecast: peak demand rises 121 GW (2025) to 163 GW (2035) = +35%, driven... as of
E1
MISO 2025 Long-Range Resource Adequacy & Interconnection Queue Update (163 GW-by-2035 forecast; ~300 GW queue) cdn.misoenergy.org
Time-to-power 35% of dimension 7 /10 CORRECTED SOURCING (score unchanged). The originally cited NIPSCO press release does NOT contain the specific figures in the justification (it states only ~340 MW GenCo total and Alphabet service 'summer 2026'; no Jan-1-2027 date, no 1.3-GW plants, no battery). However the underl... as of
E2
IURC approval of NIPSCO-Amazon special contract (Jan 1 2027 delivery start) as reported by Utility Dive www.utilitydive.com
Energy mix & expandability 15% of dimension 8 /10 CORRECTED SOURCING (score unchanged). The originally cited ANS URL returns HTTP 404 (dead) and the NIPSCO PR does not itself state the '1.3-GW gas + 400-MW battery' figures. Both expansion paths were re-confirmed independently: (1) Indiana enacted SEA 424 (signed by Gov. Braun Ap... as of
E2
Indiana SEA/SB 424 (2025) SMR preconstruction cost-recovery law — Indiana General Assembly bill record iga.in.gov
Water availability 10% of dimension 8 /10 VERIFIED (primary/authoritative, Indiana-specific, no correction). Indiana DNR groundwater-availability page confirms verbatim that Wabash River valley outwash sand-and-gravel deposits are 'capable of supplying over 1,000 gpm or 1.4 mgd to properly constructed, large diameter wel... as of
E1
Indiana DNR Ground-Water Availability (Wabash outwash >1,000 gpm / 1.4 mgd) www.in.gov

Power Cost — 5.1/10 (weight 12.5%)

Sub-factor
Score
Justification
Evidence
Source
Industrial electricity price 60% of dimension 5 /10 VERIFIED against primary source. EIA Electric Power Monthly Table 5.6.A (most recent = April 2026): Indiana industrial retail price confirmed at 8.86 c/kWh ($88.6/MWh) vs US total 8.66 c/kWh. On the $45/MWh(=10) to $140/MWh(=0) anchor, 88.6 interpolates to (140-88.6)/95*10 = 5.41... as of
E1
EIA Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A www.eia.gov
Price trajectory & exposure 25% of dimension 4 /10 Coal is Indiana's primary generation source (EIA Indiana Electricity Profile), so fuel-cost and system-upgrade exposure rises as large data-center load grows — an elevated upward price trajectory. Conservative score 4. as of
E1
EIA Electricity — Indiana State Profile (coal as primary generation source) www.eia.gov
Cost certainty / contractability 15% of dimension 7 /10 VERIFIED as primary/authoritative. IURC Cause No. 46097 order (filename 021925 = Feb 19 2025) confirmed real: IURC approved an all-party settlement updating I&M's Industrial Power Tariff (Tariff I.P.) with 'Large Load Terms' — applicability to contract demand >150 MW (aggregated... as of
E1
Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission Order, Cause No. 46097 (I&M Industrial Power Tariff, large-load terms) www.in.gov

Speed to Build — 7/10 (weight 17.5%)

Sub-factor
Score
Justification
Evidence
Source
Permitting regime 40% of dimension Excluded — no E1–E2 evidence available; weaker evidence cannot enter a base score.
Observed construction velocity 35% of dimension Excluded — no E1–E2 evidence available; weaker evidence cannot enter a base score.
Labor & supply capacity 25% of dimension 7 /10 VERIFIED (BLS page direct fetch 403'd; all three figures confirmed exactly against BLS OEWS May 2025 Indiana state estimates). Indiana employs 19,020 electricians (SOC 47-2111) at a 1.22x national location quotient, median wage $68,490 — an above-average skilled-electrical base,... as of
E1
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 State Estimates www.bls.gov

Regulatory & AI Policy Environment — 7.4/10 (weight 12.5%)

Sub-factor
Score
Justification
Evidence
Source
AI-specific law in force 35% of dimension 7 /10 VERIFIED: Indiana SB 150 (2024) confirmed via IGA plus independent corroboration (Digital Policy Alert, LegiScan enrolled act) — it establishes a temporary Artificial Intelligence Task Force to study state-agency AI use (first meeting by 2024-09-01), signed 2024-03-13, effective... as of
E1
Indiana General Assembly — Senate Bill 150 (2024) iga.in.gov
DC-specific regulation 35% of dimension 8 /10 VERIFIED: IC 6-2.5-15 confirmed (Justia URL returned HTTP 403 on re-fetch, but statute is fully corroborated by the Justia code index, the official IEDC data-center exemption page, and LawServer): a gross retail/use tax exemption on qualified data center equipment added by P.L. 2... as of
E1
Indiana Code Title 6, Art. 2.5, Ch. 15 — Data Center Equipment Tax Exemption iga.in.gov
Regulatory predictability 30% of dimension 7 /10 VERIFIED (justification tempered): IURC Cause No. 46097 order dated 2025-02-19 confirmed via IURC portal and Utility Dive — it approved an all-party settlement modifying Indiana Michigan Power's (I&M) industrial tariff for large loads, applying to new/expanding contract capacity... as of
E1
Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission Order, Cause No. 46097 (I&M Industrial Power Tariff, large-load terms) www.in.gov

Fiscal & Incentives — 8/10 (weight 10%)

Sub-factor
Score
Justification
Evidence
Source
Enacted incentives 40% of dimension 9 /10 VERIFIED: Indiana has an ENACTED statewide sales and use tax exemption on qualifying data center equipment AND energy purchases under IC 6-2.5-15 (chapter 'Gross Retail and Use Tax Exemption for Data Center Equipment'; sales-tax-exemption section 6-2.5-15-16 added by P.L. 256-201... as of
E1
Indiana Code Title 6, Art. 2.5, Ch. 15 — Data Center Equipment Tax Exemption iga.in.gov
Headline tax burden 40% of dimension 7 /10 VERIFIED: Indiana levies a flat 4.90% corporate (adjusted gross income) tax and caps commercial/industrial/personal property tax at 3% of assessed value (constitutional cap), and its 7% state sales tax does not apply to qualifying data center equipment or energy under IC 6-2.5-15... as of
E1
Indiana Economic Development Corp. — Data Center Sales Tax Exemption (Overview); Indiana Code 6-2.5-15 iedc.in.gov
Incentive durability 20% of dimension 8 /10 VERIFIED: The exemption is statutory (IC 6-2.5-15) with long, multi-decade terms — a period not to exceed 25 years for investments under $750M and up to 50 years for investments over $750M (both term lengths confirmed by IEDC overview and the statute) — but each award is discreti... as of
E1
Indiana Economic Development Corp. — Data Center Sales Tax Exemption (Overview); Indiana Code 6-2.5-15 iedc.in.gov

Capital & Ecosystem Depth — 8.7/10 (weight 12.5%)

Sub-factor
Score
Justification
Evidence
Source
Committed capital 40% of dimension 9 /10 VERIFIED: IEDC primary source confirms AWS $11B New Carlisle campus, explicitly 'the largest capital investment announcement in Indiana's history,' 1,000+ jobs (Gov. Holcomb, Apr 25 2024). Primary/authoritative, unambiguously Indiana, figure real and directly supports the anchor.... as of
E1
Indiana Economic Development Corp (IEDC) — AWS $11B New Carlisle announcement iedc.in.gov
Ecosystem 30% of dimension 8 /10 VERIFIED: Data Center Frontier is trade journalism (secondary, not a link-farm/aggregator — appropriately labeled E2). The article's ~$14B announced-spending figure and named projects (Google Fort Wayne, Digital Crossroads of America $40M / Indiana NAP border facility with $200M/... as of
E2
Data Center Frontier — Indiana announced DC spending / operators www.datacenterfrontier.com
Sovereign/anchor capital availability 30% of dimension 9 /10 VERIFIED: Cited IEDC primary source confirms Google $2B Fort Wayne (35-yr sales-tax exemption on min. $800M capex). The broader four-hyperscaler anchor claim was independently corroborated against primary/authoritative sources: AWS New Carlisle (IEDC), Meta Lebanon 1GW/$10B+ camp... as of
E2
IEDC — Google $2B Fort Wayne data center announcement iedc.in.gov

Stability & Execution Risk — 8.6/10 (weight 15%)

Sub-factor
Score
Justification
Evidence
Source
Political/policy continuity 40% of dimension 9 /10 VERIFIED: IEDC page confirms Indiana's data-center sales/use tax exemption under IC 6-2.5-15, exact language: exemption 'for a period not to exceed 25 years for data center investments of less than $750 million. If the investment exceeds $750 million, the IEDC may award an exempt... as of
E1
Indiana Economic Development Corp. — Data Center Sales Tax Exemption (Overview); Indiana Code 6-2.5-15 iedc.in.gov
Currency, transfer & convertibility 35% of dimension 10 /10 Fact holds: USD is a fully convertible reserve currency with no capital/exchange controls or profit-repatriation restrictions (US absolute anchor ~10); no Indiana-specific frictions exist. This is a universally established E1-level fact. CAVEAT: the cited source_url (federalreser... as of
E1
IMF AREAER — United States www.elibrary-areaer.imf.org
Physical & geopolitical risk 25% of dimension 6 /10 VERIFIED against NOAA NCEI Indiana State Summary: 100 total billion-dollar disasters 1980-2024, of which Severe Storm 72, Flooding 6, Tropical Cyclone 3 (all three cited figures match exactly); page confirms '2020-2024 annual average is 6.2 events (CPI-adjusted)' vs 1980-2024 ave... as of
E1
NOAA NCEI Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters — Indiana State Summary www.ncei.noaa.gov

Signals

Recent ingested source documents linked to this jurisdiction via extracted claims or triage mentions, newest first.

  1. · Heatmap News · relevance 0.20

  2. · Data Center Dynamics · relevance 0.95

  3. · PJM Inside Lines · relevance 0.60

  4. · Data Center Dynamics · relevance 0.85

  5. · PJM Inside Lines · relevance 0.60

  6. · Tom’s Hardware · relevance 0.40

  7. · PJM Inside Lines · relevance 0.60

  8. · Canary Media · relevance 0.20

  9. · Area Development — News · relevance 0.00

  10. · PJM Inside Lines · relevance 0.60

Scores are reproducible from the frozen inputs snapshot recorded at computation time (2026-07-03T00:01:59+00:00). See the full methodology for rubrics, weights, and the evidence ladder.