FORT WAYNE, IN (WOWO) — Allen County residents yesterday called on the Fort Wayne City Council and state regulators to reject two major approvals tied to Google’s planned AI data center campus.
Protesters gathered at Indiana Michigan Power (I&M) headquarters before marching to Citizens Square, urging the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to deny I&M’s proposal to charge current customers 39 percent of the cost of a seven-billion-dollar electric infrastructure upgrade. The project would supply additional power capacity to Google’s Fort Wayne data center and Amazon’s upcoming facility in New Carlisle.
The group also urged city leaders to ask Google to withdraw its draft air permit application under review by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. The permit would authorize 174 diesel backup generators across the nearly 900-acre campus.
According to IDEM’s draft filing, the generators could collectively emit more than 900 tons of air pollution per year. Residents argued the generators should be equipped with pollution controls and said the city should take a stronger role in pushing for emissions safeguards.
More than 300 Allen County residents attended an IDEM public hearing on November 13, asking the agency to deny the request unless Google agreed to install controls that reduce air pollutants from emergency power units.
Both permit processes remain underway, and no final decisions have been issued.
