GenCo combined-cycle resources
Generation addressed in IURC Cause 46362.
Documented grid pathway
Hobart Data Center Power Plan
IURC orders document an approved NIPSCO-Amazon service agreement and a 3,000 MW GenCo resource portfolio that includes 400 MW of battery storage. MISO separately documents a Hobart 345-kV load addition. These reduce delay risk; they do not make delay impossible.
Battery reserve resource
Storage is part of the planned reliability and reserve-capacity portfolio supporting high-demand conditions.
Total planned resources
The order ties this portfolio to MISO accreditation and planning reserve requirements for up to 2,400 MW of load.
Battery context: The IURC order identifies a 400 MW battery energy storage system at the former Mitchell Generating Station in Lake County. It treats the battery as part of the full 3,000 MW portfolio needed for the anticipated load and MISO planning reserve margin—not as a stand-alone “peak-only” resource. See Cause 46362, p. 3 ↗
Contract and customer protections
The approved structure includes a long-term commitment.
These are findings in IURC Cause 46322, not estimates created by this site.
Open the contract and customer protections
Customer-contract term
Initial service is expected in 2027, with demand increasing periodically to as much as 2,400 MW by the end of 2032.
Estimated bill credits
At Amazon’s projected full load ramp, the order estimates about $7 per month, or $82 per year, in residential bill credits. Shared System Charges are expected to flow back to NIPSCO’s other retail customers over the contract term. See Cause 46322, p. 38 ↗
Default upgrade allocation
The settlement’s default is that GenCo or Amazon pays electric and transmission upgrades tied to the project.
The cost protection is strong, but it is not an absolute claim that existing customers could never be allocated any future cost. The order says a later allocation proposal would require a docketed proceeding in which NIPSCO demonstrates customer benefits. See Cause 46322, pp. 4–5 and 29 ↗
Later docket activity: Cause 46322 lists a July 16 compliance filing titled “Notice of Submission of Highly Confidential Information.” The public entry establishes the title, date and listed utility parties; Northshore did not access or infer the confidential material. The June 17 final order still controls what the Commission approved. Review the public docket ↗
The IURC’s August 24–28 weekly filings list also records an August 25 Cause 46322 filing from NIPSCO Electric titled “Compliance Filing - Tariff Sheets.” That public entry confirms a later filing, not a new Commission approval, final rate determination or disclosure of confidential material. Review the August 25 filing index ↗
Two direct answers
Who carries the cost—and what is actually on today’s bill?
The answers below use the approved utility orders. They do not depend on company talking points or social-media assumptions.
Open the direct utility-cost answers
Who pays—and what happens if Amazon exits early?
Cause 46322 places the default cost of project-related electric studies, generation arrangements and transmission upgrades on Amazon or GenCo. It also describes a 15-year contract, an ultimate-parent guaranty, pre-operation and early-termination payments, and required IURC notice after specified termination events.
Plain answer: the approved structure is designed so existing customers do not automatically inherit these costs if Amazon leaves. That is strong protection—not a promise that every imaginable future cost dispute is impossible. Any later allocation proposal would require a docketed case and a customer-benefit showing.
Contract and guaranty, p. 4 ↗Cost allocation, pp. 37–38 ↗Termination notice, p. 58 ↗
Do current NIPSCO rate increases come from the Amazon data center project?
The current multi-step base-rate increase was approved in June 2025 under Cause 46120. The IURC identifies its principal drivers as previously approved solar, storage and delivery-system investments. The Hobart Amazon contract and GenCo resources were approved one year later under separate causes.
Plain answer: the approved record does not label the current base-rate increase as an Amazon data center project charge. A customer’s total bill can still move because of usage, fuel factors, trackers and taxes, so the right test is the approved rate case or rider—not the timing of a higher bill.
The Schahfer peaking project in Cause 45947 is also a separate NIPSCO public-system resource. It should not be relabeled as the Amazon GenCo portfolio.
Cause 46120 final order ↗OUCC rate and tracker overview ↗Separate Schahfer order
Later utility updates
The approved order remains the baseline; later announcements use broader scopes.
The June 17 IURC orders document the approved Amazon contract and the 3,000 MW GenCo resource portfolio. Later NIPSCO and NiSource announcements describe an expanded agreement and broader GenCo customer benefits. They should be tracked as later updates—not substituted for the controlling order.
Open the later utility updates
Company-disclosed amended Amazon load
NiSource’s SEC filing says March and May 2026 amendments, pending regulatory approval, would raise the Amazon Data Services commitment to 2,800 MW by the end of 2032. The filing also describes charges designed to pass savings to existing customers.
Unlock the NiSource filing with Research PassExpanded GenCo customer-savings estimate
NIPSCO/NiSource said the updated GenCo agreements could produce approximately $1.25 billion in aggregate savings for existing customers, or roughly $90–$115 annually for residential customers, and identified a $17 million customer fund for communities hosting generation and data-center development.
Unlock the NIPSCO announcement with Research PassBroader strategy estimate
After the June 17 IURC approvals, NiSource described approximately $1.4 billion in expected savings across its broader Indiana data-center strategy. That figure may include more than the Hobart/Amazon arrangement.
Unlock the NiSource update with Research PassScope warning: The approved Cause 46322 order estimates approximately $1.1 billion in Amazon-contract bill credits, or about $82 per residential customer per year at the projected full ramp. Later company estimates use different agreement dates or broader scopes and should not be presented as interchangeable numbers.
Milestones
What is approved and what remains scheduled
Open the approval and schedule milestones
GenCo structure approved
IURC approved a structure intended to separate megaload generation costs and risks from existing NIPSCO customers.
IURC Final Order, Cause No. 46322 ↗Amazon service contract approved
IURC approved the NIPSCO-Amazon customer contract and related GenCo arrangements.
IURC Final Order, Cause No. 46322 ↗GenCo resources approved
IURC addressed 2,600 MW of combined-cycle generation and a 400 MW battery resource.
IURC Final Order, Cause No. 46362 ↗Expected initial electric service
The utility order describes service beginning in 2027, supported initially by capacity from an existing thermal asset.
IURC Final Order, Cause No. 46322 ↗Expected MISO project in-service date
MISO’s Hobart 345-kV load-addition record lists this expected date.
MISO Project 51141: New Hobart 345-kV Load Addition ↗Planned load ramp reaches up to 2,400 MW
The approved contract describes periodic increases through 2032.
IURC Final Order, Cause No. 46322 ↗What is documented
Normal power is planned from the utility grid; diesel remains the emergency backup.
IURC records document NIPSCO retail service, GenCo generation and battery resources, and transmission work for normal operations. Amazon's air-permit application separately proposes 782 diesel generators for emergency backup, required testing and other limited authorized uses. The utility plan does not eliminate diesel—it supports the narrower conclusion that diesel is not the documented everyday power source.
What remains uncertain
Schedules can still move.
Approvals and construction activity are not guarantees. A verified delay notice would be important evidence—but it still would not, by itself, authorize ordinary bridge operation of emergency engines.