The St. Joseph County Council will vote September 22 on a resolution to ban new hyperscale data centers, a measure supported by five of the council’s nine members amidst debate over economic growth and water use.
A hyperscale data center is not a server room, but a sprawling campus—the kind Amazon and Microsoft build to run cloud and artificial intelligence services. Supporters argue that the facilities bring thousands of jobs and—through the tax revenue they generate—lower electric bills for nearby residents. But the same server farms need enormous amounts of water to keep their equipment cool, straining the region’s aquifer and fueling the county’s fight over a proposed ban.
The resolution, filed August 27 by County Council Republicans Amy Drake, Joe Thomas, Randy Figg, and Andy Rutten, directs the Area Plan Commission to amend the county zoning ordinance to prohibit the building of new data centers. Once Amazon’s campus near New Carlisle and Microsoft’s in Granger—both neighbors of South Bend—are complete, no more data centers will be built. Democratic council member Jenn Shabazz joined the four sponsors, giving the resolution majority support on the council.
Republicans had proposed a two-year moratorium just a week earlier. “We just think it’s a great time for a pause; we’re going to have over 40 data centers in our community and—our county—we think that’s enough,” said Joe Thomas, one of the resolution’s sponsors.
Fellow sponsor Amy Drake said that the county should not put all of its economic growth into one industry. “We don’t know the future of data centers. … Do we want to create, you know, a hundred data center buildings in St. Joe County and see the industry change?” she questioned.
For Mayor James Mueller, the question is not whether the county should allow data centers, but how it should judge each one. He opposes the ban, saying in a recent interview, “I don’t believe a moratorium or a ban is serious policy. We’re in election season, and unfortunately, [campaigns have] very [simple] policy.” He pointed to Indiana Michigan Power’s ratepayer pledge as the kind of safeguard the community should seek instead of a moratorium.
Indiana Michigan Power, a local electric utility company, filed a plan on August 26 with state regulators to cut rates by 79 million dollars a year and freeze them for three years—saving each household roughly 100 dollars each year. The utility company attributes these rates to the revenue gained from large consumers, most significantly, data centers.
Mueller called the plan “great news for South Bend families.” Amazon has employed nearly 4,000 people at its fourteen billion dollar New Carlisle campus, completed in 2026. The campus also included more than 1,000 full-time workers, with nearly half of those employees residing in St. Joseph County.
The disagreement does not run cleanly along party lines as business leaders share the mayor’s skepticism of the ban. “A ban sends a message to the rest of the world that we’re not open for business,” said Jeff Rea, president of the South Bend Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Three council Democrats, President Bryan Tanner, Mark Catanzarite, and Diana Hess, also oppose a ban or moratorium. “I don’t think that an arbitrary time clock is a replacement for good judgment,” Tanner noted. Several other Democrats have emphasized that their priority is evaluating each data center individually as opposed to the Republican strategy of introducing absolute bans.
The relevance of this ban will continue to linger over South Bend politics, as candidates from both parties have made it clear that data centers will be an issue in the November 3 election. Inside city limits, a version of the same debate is already underway.
Plans surfaced in December that New York-based developer, Western Hospitality Partners, seeks to build a 300-acre, 10-building data center in South Bend. It will be located adjacent to South Bend Ethanol and across Prairie Avenue from Four Winds Casino.
The city described the concept as “speculative at best,” and has announced nothing since. Davis, an at-large councilman, called for a one-year city moratorium. “What we need to do is study the whole impact of what data centers are doing,” Davis said. Davis did not respond to a request for comment for this article.
Water remains the central point of dispute. A recent investigation by ABC57 found the Amazon campus could push demand on the Kankakee Aquifer to 35.5 million gallons a day. This would be about 80 percent of the aquifer’s safe yield, against a state industrial cap of 24 million gallons. Notre Dame Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences Alan Hamlet warned that drawing 80 percent of the supply would be risky in a prolonged drought.
Amazon spokesperson Brandon Oyer countered, arguing that the campus draws water for only about two percent of the year. “Most of the year, 98 percent, we’re not using water, just cooling via air,” Oyer said.
The County Council votes September 22. If the resolution passes, the Area Plan Commission would rewrite the ordinance and return it to the council for a final vote. Tanner, as president, could keep the measure off the agenda, but council rules allow a majority to override him.
Luke Severson is a sophomore political science major. His favorite hobby is listening to Dr. Taylor Marshall lectures. Contact him at lseverso@nd.edu.