UPDATE: Indianapolis paused data centers. Three were already through the door.

The county's moratorium runs to the end of 2027, but it doesn't touch more than $6 billion in projects approved before it passed. The fight has moved to tax breaks, a court case and a new study panel.

When the Indianapolis City-County Council voted 23-1 on Aug. 10 to stop approving new data centers, supporters in the overflow room treated it as a win. Nine days later the Metropolitan Development Commission made it official, 6-0. No new data center can be approved in Marion County until Dec. 31, 2027.

But the pause looks forward only. Three large campuses that the development commission approved earlier in 2026, over loud neighborhood objections, are exempt and still moving. Any rules the city writes during the moratorium will apply only to projects that come later.

Metrobloks is approved for roughly 14 acres at 2505 N. Sherman Drive in Martindale-Brightwood. The 75-megawatt, $500 million project would occupy the former Sherman Drive-In site. Its tax-break package remains undecided, and residents have challenged the approval in court.

DC BLOX won approval for two buildings at 305 Fintail Drive in the Thunderbird Commerce Center near Irvington. The project, estimated at $1.8 billion to $2 billion, was reduced from three buildings. Plans also cut the number of backup diesel generators from 56 to 31 after objections about noise and proximity to an elementary school.

Sabey Data Centers received approval March 18 for a campus at 6400 Kentucky Ave. in Decatur Township. The plan covers about 130 acres and up to 1 million square feet, with capacity of as much as 250 megawatts and an estimated investment of $4 billion to $4.3 billion. The approved package included about $240 million in tax breaks and commitments of at least $29.8 million for roads and an aquatic center.

A fourth proposal, a 468-acre Google campus between South Post and David roads in Franklin Township, was withdrawn before a council vote. It is not one of the three exempt projects.

The open fight is over Metrobloks' tax breaks. The Los Angeles-based developer won approval in April to build at 25th Street and Sherman Drive. Neighbors, joined by the Hoosier Environmental Council, filed for judicial review in Marion Superior Court on May 1. They argue the commission misapplied variance standards and that the developer did not complete environmental, water, utility and traffic studies.

The incentive package has been delayed several times. Earlier reports put it near $56 million in property and equipment tax breaks, plus larger potential savings for a future tenant. FOX59 later reported an estimate of $52.6 million. The commission postponed an Oct. 21 vote, and the next scheduled hearing is Nov. 18. Mayor Joe Hogsett's office has backed abatements for all three approved projects.

The moratorium was meant to buy time to write permanent rules. The city has funded that work at $300,000: $150,000 from the council on Sept. 19 and $150,000 from the development commission on Oct. 7. Planning firm MKSK will lead the process, with Indiana University's Environmental Resilience Institute as research partner.

Members include a community representative, Citizens Action Coalition, White River Alliance, public health officials, building trades, AES Indiana, Citizens Energy Group, the Indy Chamber and Councilor John Barth. Their agenda covers health effects, water and power use, noise, generator testing, building size and electronic waste.

Meetings are expected to begin by the end of 2026 or early 2027. A proposed zoning ordinance could reach the council in late summer 2027, several months before the moratorium expires.

What to watch: a possible Nov. 18 vote on Metrobloks tax breaks; the pending judicial review of the Metrobloks approval; the study panel's first public meetings; a proposed zoning ordinance in late summer 2027; and the Dec. 31, 2027 expiration of the moratorium unless it is extended.

The next reporting questions are whether construction has begun at any of the three sites, which permits remain outstanding, whether the Metrobloks abatement changes if residents prevail in court, and whether any new rules can reach projects already approved.

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