Where They Stand: Greene County Leaders on the Data Center Question (FREE ARTICLE)

The conversation surrounding data centers in Greene County is moving fast, and local voices are at the center of it. To help clarify the positions of those steering our community, we reached out to every elected official in the county with three key questions regarding potential developments, local impact, and infrastructure readiness.

In this special report, we have compiled the verbatim responses from the leaders who participated. While many officials took the time to provide detailed insights into their vision for the county’s future, others did not respond to our inquiry by the publication deadline.

We asked these three questions:

1. What is your current position on data centers, and would you support a data center moving into Greene County? Please explain the reasons for your stance.

2. If a data center company or state agency asked you to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) to keep project details secret from the public, would you sign it? Why or why not?

3. In your view, what are the primary pros and cons of a data center development for the residents and resources of Greene County?

First we will start with a list of candidates or elected officials who did not respond to our inquiry:

None of the County Commissioners responded:

County Council Members who did not respond:

Council Member's Who Did Respond

Question 1: My current position on data centers stands as against, but open to learning and discussion. I am not well versed enough beyond media hype to make an informed assessment. My concerns lie mainly with use of resources such as land and water and environmental impact from waste generation.

Question 2: I believe that protecting our resources is vitally important. I would not sign an NDA because I believe that I am bound to serve the citizens of Greene County not an unknown entity.

Question 3: As for pros and cons, I would think that job generation would be the main pro. Construction jobs during that phase and hopefully ongoing employment opportunities, although it is unclear how many jobs and what type of jobs would be created. From a negative perspective I am concerned that a data center may adversely affect water supply, pollute waterways and soil  from wastewater and adversely affect air quality. I am also concerned about increasing strain on infrastructure such as fire protection and roads. Often, it seems, new businesses are granted tax abatements. It would be imprudent to incentivize strains on resources and infrastructure without adequate revenue generation to offset such costs. Ultimately, a data center proposal like any other business proposal would require thorough research and analysis to determine the risk/benefit to the county. Until that proposal materializes this opinion is really just conjecture. 

I will be honest about the data center idea. I do not know much about them. From what I have read and heard, they take a very high amount of water supply. I do not think that any of our current water supplies or suppliers in greene county could provide the amount of water needed without causing a disruption in local service.

The data center itself would have to be located close to the river and set up their own water supply. And we both know that will not happen. 

As for a NDA, I do not think that is good business and would not be for that. This thought could change, depending on the pros and cons that would be determined at the time of the presentation. 

My support for a data center would be entirely dependent on what benefit the proposed facility would provide to the County. I take very seriously my responsibility to ALL citizens of Greene County. I do not know of any interest by any entity in placing a data center in Greene County at this time.

At this time I am not aware of any plans for a data center in Greene county. The first thing I would want to see is several public meetings on the matter and all the factual data involved. I do know they consume a very large amount of electrical power, but, something that is overlooked, in my opinion, is the large amount of water required. I do not have enough information to make an educated decision at this time.

It's going to be a process of information that I'm willing to share as we go. I will be as transparent as glass on every issue

The Candidate Responses

Question 1: I do not support data centers in Greene County.

Question 2: I will not sign this document because I believe the public has a right to know what is being discussed and what decisions are being made. I was elected to represent the people, and transparency is important to that responsibility.

Question 3: I do not see any clear benefits to having a data center here. The drawbacks include high energy consumption, which could increase utility costs for our residents, and significant water usage to cool the units, which may place additional strain on our local environment.

Question 1: No, I do not support a data center coming to Greene County at this time. There is not enough information or historic data to support a position on data centers at this time.

Question 2: No, absolutely not. More details and transparency for our community are needed before any agreements would be signed.

Question 3: Currently, as I understand the data centers they will take up a great deal of real estate (aka: farm ground). There will be a tremendous demand on resources such as water and utilities. We are hard pressed to take care of current demands let allow a facility of this measure. The other matter is employment. The data center will only employ about 20 employees. These individuals will have to be highly trained & skilled to operate the data center and would be recruited from other areas of the country to operate. I don't feel Greene County is in a position to meet the demands of such an operation at this time.

Question 1: The question isn’t simply whether Greene County should welcome a data center — it’s whether any major project meets clear, responsible growth standards. First, an independent fiscal impact analysis must show positive net revenue after incentives and infrastructure costs. Second, utility and infrastructure capacity — power, water, roads — must be validated so residents are not burdened. Third, any incentives should be performance-based and time-bound. Finally, the project must align with our comprehensive plan and long-term strategy. Growth should be strategic, data-driven, and fiscally responsible.

The goal is not simply attracting projects — it is building sustainable prosperity that strengthens the tax base, protects taxpayers, and supports future generations. 

Question 2: Transparency is a foundational responsibility of anyone serving on County Council. The public deserves confidence that decisions impacting land use, utilities, and long-term tax policy are made openly and with accountability. That said, large economic development projects often require limited confidentiality during early negotiations to protect competitive information, land acquisition strategy, or proprietary business details.

Refusing to engage at all could put Greene County at a disadvantage. If asked to sign an NDA, the guiding principle would be this: confidentiality should be narrow, temporary, and legally appropriate — not a tool to shield policy decisions from public scrutiny. Strategic growth requires both professionalism in negotiations and transparency in governance.  

Residents have a right to understand how projects affect taxes, utilities, land use, and community character before final votes are cast. Greene County’s future depends on trust — and trust is built through openness, data, and accountability. 

Question 3: Data centers bring clear tradeoffs (pros and cons) for any potential location, including Greene County.  

Pros: • Significant capital investment and expansion of the property tax base. • Stable long-term revenue to support schools and public safety. • Short-term construction jobs and contractor activity.  

Cons: • Relatively low permanent job creation compared to the scale of the project. • Major demand on power infrastructure, potentially requiring costly upgrades. • Possible strain on water and land resources.  

The critical question is whether the long-term fiscal return justifies the infrastructure impact — especially when job creation is limited. Growth must strengthen our tax base without shifting utility costs or risk onto residents.

Tyler Moore asked to participate in this questionnaire and we were more than happy to enter his responses as he is running for a local elected position.

Question 1: Currently, I oppose the building of data centers, and I would not support a data center moving into Greene County. While our current politicians in the statehouse will tout the jobs these centers will bring, specifically for labored workers, the short term economic stimulus does not outweigh the long term environmental and resource consequences these centers bring. 

Long term they offer little to no increase in jobs for their communities once construction is complete. Depending on the size, many of these data centers require and can use as much power as hundreds of thousands of homes, and in some cases millions. This means utilities increases across the board for local communities and even statewide. For resident here in Greene County utilities are already high and a utility increase of 3-4x would be catastrophic. I know some people who pay more in utilities than their mortgage. We also do not have the power infrastructure to operate numerous data centers. Just a few weeks ago Western Indiana REMC sent out notice to conserve power during a winter storm and frigid temperatures due to infrastructure load, adding data centers will exacerbate the strain on our grid, and unfortunately it’s the people who will have the lights turned off on them before data centers.

We’ve also seen across the country the impact to water supply and quality. Greene County’s water quality isn’t the best. Because of our geography we have very hard water, and we pump swimming pool levels of chlorine in it just to keep it safe to drink. Being a rural area, we also have many people in the county who use wells. We can look at other areas where data centers have been built and see the irreversible damage and pollution it’s done to those community’s water tables. We can also see impacts on air quality associated with data centers and in some communities an increase in health related issues (asthma, heart attacks) as a result. Lastly, I disagree with the tax incentives and breaks we are giving to these centers at the expense of the tax payer. We’re paying for these centers in literally every way with little benefit back to us for it. 

Question 2: Absolutely not. Elected officials are elected by the people, for the people. Loyalty should always be toward the constituents they serve not corporations. In my opinion, everything they do while in office should be public knowledge and larger impactful things like data centers should require public opinion and transparency. 

Question 3: Pros: Short Term job opportunity/growth
Cons: Little long term job opportunity/growth
Power usage & grid load 
Increased utility costs 
Resource Pollution (water & air) 
Tax incentives/break at tax payer expense