AI cloud firm Fluidstack has shared more details on its planned data center development in Sullivan County, Indiana, holding a public open house event last week (August 5).. The $65 billion facility is set to be housed on the 2.1GW Heartland Industrial Park, a 1,000-acre site located between County Road 400 West and the Merom Generating Station..
The planned site of the Heartland Industrial Park – Google Maps. Situated outside New Lebanon, near Hallador Energy’s 1GW coal-powered Merom Generating Station, the land was acquired from Hoosier Energy in 2022. Hallador last year filed to expand the plant with 515MW of natural gas capacity..
According to Fluidstack, operations at the site are set to begin in 2027.. Local media reported that a flyer on display at the open house said: “This $65 billion development is designed to ensure we pay for our infrastructure and are a responsible neighbor.”. However, in comments posted in a public Facebook group called ‘Say NO To Data Centers in Sullivan Co, IN,’ one individual who said they’d attended the meeting wrote: “I ask [sic] many in-depth technical questions of several representatives and received no answers other than what was explained on the displayed charts.
Several times the individual would respond that ‘They didn’t know’ or refer me to someone else. It was very obvious they were only to provide a scripted answer.”. The individual went on to claim that Fluidstack’s PR spokesperson, Kate Franko, deflected several questions from attendees, saying that she only joined the company in May 2026..
“I ask [sic] her point blank, why the public was not informed or public meetings were not held and her response was “We don’t announce large projects like this until it is fully a ready to go deal and all approvals have been signed.” That makes it obvious, they wanted no public input or resistance and that mindset carried right on down to the county Commissioners no transparency or any arranged public meetings,” the comment continued.. In a report from local news outlet Terre Haute Tribune-Star, Franko herself was quoted as saying: “We’re thrilled to be building a new data center campus here in Sullivan County.
We wanted to bring the company to the people of Sullivan County tonight and answer questions one-on-one in an open format and to introduce people of the county to all the different teams working on the development here.”. She added that Fluidstack wanted to make sure “people have access to the information they want about the project that’s happening right in their backyard.
A new data center development is a very complex, long-term project, and there is a lot of misinformation out there about what data centers are and are not.”. The Tribune reported that Franko was asked questions about what the site will look like, its proposed water and energy usage, and the environmental impact of data centers.
In response, she said the facility will have “very low water usage” as it will employ a closed-loop system, adding that the development will not increase energy rates for local residents.. Attendees were also told that Fluidstack did not seek any tax incentives for Phase I of the project, and has committed $50 million to Sullivan County government through an enhancement agreement, half in Phase I and half in Phase II..
The company has not said who the tenants at the site will be, stating that it “doesn’t release customer names.”. The open house event comes three months after it was reported that a powered land undertaking set up by investment firm Coatue Management had signed a joint venture with Fluidstack for a planned data center in New Lebanon, Indiana..
Dubbed Next Frontier, the project will buy up land near large power sources to serve data centers. Tens of billions of dollars are reportedly set to go into the venture.. More in Construction & Site Selection.
15 Apr 2026. More in North America. 23 Jul 2026.
23 Jul 2026
