Facts Over Fear: Hobart Data Center

Bottom line

The project has a documented utility pathway and an active regulatory review process.

IURC orders document the NIPSCO contract and GenCo resources, while MISO records the Hobart transmission project. Amazon’s air application remains submitted and pending IDEM review.

Confirmed application facts

How to read the current evidence

1. The 190-page Amazon document is an application, not an issued IDEM permit.
2. Amazon requested a FESOP/synthetic-minor permit, not a Title V permit.
3. The application describes the on-site diesel engines as emergency backup.
4. IURC and MISO records document a separate utility, generation and transmission pathway.
5. The GenCo portfolio includes 400 MW of battery storage as part of the planned reliability and reserve-capacity resources.
6. The approved agreements pair substantial tax incentives with a $175 million contribution schedule, per-building impact payments and annual compliance review.
7. The Lebanon comparison remains a case study, not the organizing conclusion of this review.

Construction status

Mass grading is active as of July 26, 2026. Northshore Gen reports vertical construction scheduled for late 2026; that remains a planned milestone rather than a completed event. Merrillville’s official site separately describes the Hobart campus as currently under construction, and Hobart’s mayor tied a 2026 city payment to the first building going vertical.

Runtime in plain English

Federal law sets no hour ceiling during a genuine emergency. It generally allows up to 100 hours per engine for maintenance and testing, with a restricted 50-hour non-emergency subset inside that 100. Ordinary bridge generation does not automatically qualify as emergency use. Hour meters and operating records matter.

Public comment

IDEM says formal written-comment periods are usually 30 days. The future Hobart draft notice will provide the controlling dates, permit number, IDEM project contact and exact email or mailing instructions. Monitor IDEM’s Northwest Indiana public notices, which cover Lake County, and use the notice—not Northshore Gen’s correction form—to file a permit comment.

Records to watch

A bridge-power application, IDEM modification, temporary-generation contract, confirmed utility-delay notice or final permit conditions materially different from Amazon’s request would trigger a new review.

Core official sources

• Amazon Data Services, 190-page Hobart air-permit application submitted to IDEM, pp. 4–14.
• IURC Final Orders in Causes 46322 and 46362, June 17, 2026.
• MISO Project 51141, New Hobart 345-kV Load Addition.
• Hobart Data Center Campus submitted mass-grading plans, October 2025.
• Hobart construction/SWPPP technical review, October 21, 2025.
• Hobart Ordinance 2025-22 and Resolutions 2026-02 and 2026-04.
• Town of Merrillville official construction-status statement, July 2026.
• Hobart mayor’s public 2026 vertical-construction milestone update.
• 40 CFR 60.4211(f), federal emergency-engine operating categories.
• IDEM Orla, LLC draft-permit public record.
• IDEM operating-permit, timeframe and public-participation guidance.
• IDEM Northwest Indiana public notices and air-permit Interested Parties Mailing List.