Delaware Co. residents: Take action by Nov. 6!
Read our position paper HERE
Local governments across the country—including those in East Central Indiana—are being asked to permit new data centers, facilities that will have large impacts on citizens’ lives, both now and in the future. Most recently, the Academy of Model Aeronautics board has entered negotiations to sell AMA property in Delaware County for a data center.
Data centers, as has been widely reported, are resource-intensive. Before a municipality decides to permit one, the environmental and economic impacts that should be considered include wetland protection, water usage, electricity usage, noise levels, pollutant generation, effects on ratepayers and taxpayers, and tax incentives and job creation.
Local ordinances are needed to guide such decisions. Blackford, Grant, and Madison Counties currently have temporary moratoriums on data centers, and Jay County has a regulatory ordinance. Delaware, Henry, and Jay Counties have no relevant policies.
Given the possible sale of AMA property for a data center, the RCAS board has voted to support a one-year moratorium on data center construction in Delaware County, to allow for further impact study. Both the development of regulations and the permitting of individual projects should be publicly transparent processes, with sufficient time for citizen input.
You can read our full position paper here. We are sharing this statement with the Delaware-Muncie Metropolitan Plan Commission, the County Commissioners, and the Muncie City Council.
What you can do:
Take time to inform yourself on this important issue and make your views known to your local representatives. Delaware County residents should take action by November 6, the deadline for submitting public comments regarding I&M’s proposed transmission grid updates.
Specific steps that you can take:
- Vote in the November 3 election. Support candidates who have taken a stand on regulating data centers.
- Contact Stephanie Eisenberg, with ERM (Environmental Resources Management), which is representing I&M, by November 6. Call 833-441-2260 or email AEPTransmission@erm.com.
- Take a petition, collect signatures, and deliver to “Protect Delaware County,” a Facebook group coordinating protests.
- Attend the Delaware County Commissioners meeting on November 2, 9 a.m., in the Commissioners Courtroom, in the City-County Building.
- Attend a letter-writing event on November 2, 6:30 p.m., at the Oakwood Retreat Center (3801 S. County Road 575 E., Selma).
- Monitor the Delaware-Muncie Metropolitan Plan Commission for proposed planning and policy changes. When proposals are considered, provide public input here.
- Ask for yard signs, t-shirts and stickers from the “Protect Delaware County” group. See the Facebook page for details or write to ProtectDelawareCounty@gmail.com.
(Photo of AWS data center licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license)
