Indiana is becoming the next frontier of America's AI infrastructure boom. Five hyperscale data center campuses - built by Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Meta - are converting thousands of acres of farmland into server farms. The combined investment exceeds $15 billion. The combined permanent workforce: fewer than 200 people.

The state just passed House Bill 1210, offering data centers up to 50 years of sales tax exemptions. Communities absorb the infrastructure costs while corporations pocket the savings.

The scale is staggering. Amazon's campus in New Carlisle alone spans 1,100 acres - larger than downtown Indianapolis. It will consume enough electricity to power 350,000 homes. Google's Fort Wayne facility requires its own dedicated substation. Meta is building two campuses simultaneously, in Lebanon and Jeffersonville, creating a north-south axis along the I-65 corridor.

A 40-mile stretch of northern Indiana between La Porte and St. Joseph counties is emerging as the state's "Compute Corridor." AWS and Microsoft are building side-by-side in a region where cheap farmland, abundant water, and proximity to Chicago's fiber hub converge.

The corridor will consume more electricity than some small cities. Rural electric cooperatives are scrambling to build transmission capacity they never planned for. The cost of those grid upgrades falls on existing ratepayers - the same communities that were promised economic development.

Each data center requires millions of gallons of water annually for cooling. In Lebanon, residents have raised concerns about water table depletion in a county already dealing with rapid suburban growth. In Jeffersonville, the proximity to the Ohio River provides water access but raises questions about thermal discharge regulations.

196 permanent jobs across five campuses. $15.6 billion in investment. 50 years of tax exemptions. The math leaves Indiana communities holding the bill.