IURC approves AES Indiana's $1.3bn solar and storage project for Google data center

Indiana regulators have approved AES Indiana's plan to build solar, batteries and a transmission line to serve a Google data center in Monrovia. Google will pay all costs associated with the project, according to Data Center Dynamics, which reports it is the first data center filed under Indiana's 2025 large-load law. That law requires large-load data centers to cover at least 80 percent of the cost of the generation and transmission infrastructure built for them.

AES Indiana has said the project will cost approximately $1.3 billion to construct. Commissioner Joby Jerrells said the utility testified that Google would pay for at least 100 percent of the costs under the requirement. "Not only does this agreement satisfy the statutory requirement, it exceeds it substantially," Jerrells said.

The connection costs divide in two ways, according to local reporting cited by Data Center Dynamics. Gustavo Garaviglia, chief executive of AES US Utilities, said Google will pay $32.3 million for direct connection facilities, while $73.8 million in network upgrades will be included in AES's transmission rate base.

The contract between AES and Google will last at least 15 years and includes several provisions to prevent cost shifting onto regular ratepayers if Google decides to scale back or drop the project, Data Center Dynamics reports.

The build has three power components and one wire. Two standalone battery systems come in at 200MW and 130MW; a hybrid project pairs 130MW of solar with a 130MW battery; and a 10-mile (16-kilometer) 345kV line connects the project to an on-site substation near the data center. That substation is planned at 1,200MW, which suggests the interconnection is sized for more generation than this first filing covers.

Google's Indiana footprint extends beyond Monrovia. The company is also developing a campus in Fort Wayne, where it purchased 900 acres and committed around $2 billion, according to Data Center Dynamics. News that Google was behind the Monrovia development first emerged last October.