Google Power Projects Advance in Indiana, Wyoming

Indiana regulators unanimously approved AES Indiana’s solar, battery-storage and transmission project for Google’s planned 390-megawatt Monrovia data center, the first data-center project reviewed under a 2025 law requiring large electricity users to cover at least 80% of related infrastructure costs. AES says Google will pay the project’s costs; however, consumer advocates and residents have raised concerns about transmission upgrades entering the utility rate base, cost overruns and potential effects on ratepayers. The approved project is estimated at $737 million, within a broader investment estimate of about $1.3 billion. Separately, American Electric Power plans to invest about $4 billion in a 702-megawatt fuel-cell facility near Cheyenne, Wyoming, to supply Google under a 20-year agreement. Construction is expected to start in 2026, with operations by the end of 2028; the facility will use Bloom Energy technology and is intended to incorporate carbon capture.