1. Marion County, Indiana — State legislators made a U-turn this week in Indiana.
- The Indiana House passed a bill on Tuesday that would have allowed solar projects, data centers, and oil refineries on “poor soil.” Critics lambasted the bill for language they said was too vague and would wrest control from local governments, and on Thursday, local media reported that the legislation as written had effectively died.
- Had it passed, the new rules would have brought Indiana’s solar permitting process closer to that of neighboring Illinois and Michigan, both of which limit the ability of counties and townships to restrict renewable energy projects. According to Heatmap Pro data, local governments in Indiana currently have more than 60 ordinances and moratoriums restricting renewable development on the books, making it one of the most difficult places to build renewable energy in the country.
2. Baldwin County, Alabama — Alabamians are fighting a solar project they say was dropped into their laps without adequate warning.
- Many residents who oppose SR Stockton I & II, a proposed solar project that will reportedly power a nearby Meta data center, told local media they felt blindsided by the scale of the project and the companies involved. “You feel like David and Goliath. I mean, we are just everyday people here,” one resident told a local news station. “You wake up one morning [and] you find out you’ve got an Alabama Power, and you’ve got a Meta, and you’ve got a Facebook and whoever else involved, and you feel very helpless.”
- Concerns centered around the project’s scale, environmental impact, and effect on the area’s rural character. Because the area is unzoned, however, it appears unlikely that local government will halt it. The developer, Silicon Ranch, said it aimed to begin construction later this year.
3. Orleans Parish, Louisiana — The Crescent City has closed its doors to data centers, at least until next year.
- The New Orleans City Council voted unanimously in late January to pass a one-year moratorium on new data centers after a proposed project garnered opposition from the mayor and nearby residents.
- At least 16 local governments have placed bans on data centers in 2026 alone, according to Heatmap Pro data. This is the first we’ve seen in Louisiana, but the concerns in New Orleans over energy consumption, pollution, and a perceived lack of transparency are common elsewhere in the country.
