CLARK COUNTY, Ind. (WDRB) -- Construction on the massive Meta data center in Clark County is well underway — and the facility is scheduled to open in less than a year.
While the tech giant builds out its new campus at the River Ridge Commerce Center, a group of local women are working behind the scenes to make sure residents understand what the project could mean for southern Indiana.
Alyssa Holland and Eva Bell with Hoosier Action have been holding community listening sessions about the new data center — and they’re raising questions about what it could cost the community in resources.
“So rising costs and power, the rising costs of water especially,” Bell said. “And we’re seeing from other states that impact from those data centers — just like people not able to [afford it] or the quality of water has gone down.”
Inside the massive complex now under construction will be thousands of servers and computers. Powering and cooling that equipment will require major infrastructure — and a lot of water.
“They’re needing to increase their infrastructure to accommodate the amount of water usage,” Holland said. “And these facilities take on to cool their equipment. That water cannot be reused. It evaporates during the process because of the heat.”
When Meta announced the project in early 2024, then-Gov. Eric Holcomb’s office said it would be powered by renewable energy.
A spokesperson for Duke Energy said in a statement:
“We are not building new power plants to serve Meta. Under our contract with Meta, we agreed to purchase power on Meta’s behalf, and Meta will reimburse Duke Energy for the costs of acquiring generating capacity on their behalf. The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission has approved the process, and existing customers are protected.”
Holland disagrees.
“Duke has already put a new substation out that way,” she said. “And they’ve also already announced an 11% rate increase for residential customers that will become effective in early 2026.”
Meta is also receiving a tax exemption that Hoosier Action estimates is worth about $9 million a year. The group hopes elected officials will pressure the company to reinvest some of those savings back into Clark County.
“That would require Meta to put some of these funds they’re saving through TIF and tax abatements back into the community,” Holland said.
Meta spokesperson said it is already working to do that.
“Jeffersonville is our home, and we are committed to playing a positive role here and investing in the community’s long-term vitality,” a Meta spokesperson said. “Since we broke ground here in 2024, we have contributed nearly $500,000 to area schools and nonprofits, and this month, we’ll launch our Community Action Grants program, which provides direct funding for projects that benefit the Clark County community.”
A spokesperson for META addressed other concerns raised in the listening session.
"Construction at the data center is very concentrated in the Jeffersonville / Louisville area. You’ll find the heat map attached from July this year which shows this.
Water at the Jeffersonville data center is supplied directly from River Ridge Development Authority, and not a public utility. Here’s a post from them which speaks to “no impact on water quantity or rates in surrounding communities”.
We (META) are also using a closed-loop cooling system with dry cooling at this data center, which uses minimal water. Happy to set you up an expert who can explain this in more detail.
Power: Meta has taken on the financial obligations associated with building new transmission infrastructure, ensuring that other customers won't be burdened with these expenses. The new infrastructure will improve grid reliability and enable Duke to serve more customers in the region.
Community Action Grants: The application window for this program will open next week, to begin receiving applications for new grants."
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