Public hearing in Warrick Co. on AI data centers - WFIE | 14 News

WARRICK COUNTY, Ind. (WFIE) - Nearly 200 Warrick County residents crammed into this month’s area planning commission meeting.

The topic? AI data centers, and the commission’s proposed ordinance laying out requirements and regulations for any data centers that may come to the county.

Some like resident Melinda Mitchell don’t want data centers of any kind.

“The cost is extremely high for our electricity, our water, our land, noise pollution, air pollution. Once the land is destroyed by these, there’s no turning back, it can’t be fixed,” Mitchell stated.

Others like Ryan McRoberts, with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, think they’re an opportunity, and opposed any potential moratoriums.

“One of the best opportunities we have right now is this massive construction boom all across the country, and a large part of that is driven by AI. And we would be shorting our children the opportunity for our children to get into apprenticeships if Warrick County was not open to hyper-scale data centers,” McRoberts stated.

The ordinance defines data centers by size, with small being less than 10,000 square feet, large being over 40,000, and medium being somewhere in between.

It also has a list of 36 different rules developers have to follow, like keeping below a certain volume, only being allowed in certain districts, and more.

Officials say the ordinance is meant to protect the county from any projects that could get out of hand.

Some, like E-REPs Lloyd Winnecke, even said the ordinance is too restrictive.

“If adopted without broader input, meaningful engagement, and proper vetting, it would send the wrong signal that new technology investment is not welcome at all in Warrick County, and perhaps by extension, the greater region,” Winnecke stated.

Others voiced concerns about how some regulations would be enforced.

Regardless of the opinions for or against, commission president Jeff Valiant, says there is no current plan to bring in a data center.

“There are no data center projects on the table. There have not been any data center projects on the table. As of 6:00 p.m. tonight, when we started this meeting tonight, there was no plan on the table for data centers,” Valiant stated.

Officials say they were happy to see so many people voice their opinions.

In fact, 14 News had to step out of that meeting before it was finished. It took just under an hour to get through the first page of speakers, and there were 7 more to go on Monday night.

If you would like to read the ordinance yourself, both parts are below:

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