Mike Braun
Governor of Indiana courting hyperscale data-centre investment, including Meta's $10bn Lebanon campus, against his own capital's proposed moratorium.
Last refreshed: 15 July 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Timeline for Mike Braun
Continued courting hyperscale investment against his capital's proposed freeze
Data Centres: Boom and Backlash: Indianapolis backs freezing new data centresMentioned in: Indiana counties turn pauses into bans
Data Centres: Boom and BacklashWho is Mike Braun?
Why is Indianapolis considering a data-centre moratorium?
What is Meta's data centre in Lebanon, Indiana?
Background
Mike Braun, Governor of Indiana, is continuing to court hyperscale data-centre investment, including Meta's $10bn campus in Lebanon, Indiana, even as his own capital pushes back. Indianapolis's Metropolitan Development Commission voted 10-3 on 13 July 2026 to recommend a moratorium on new data-centre approvals through December 2027, with the full City-County Council due to vote on 10 August.
Braun, a Republican, has positioned Indiana as an aggressive competitor for hyperscale investment, betting on the jobs and tax revenue such campuses bring. That pitch increasingly collides with local resistance: roughly 30 of the state's 92 counties, including Marshall and Cass, have moved to restrict or ban new data-centre development outright rather than simply pause it.
The split between Braun's state-level enthusiasm and grassroots opposition mirrors a pattern playing out nationally, where governors and economic development offices chase hyperscale investment while counties and cities absorb the water, power and land costs first.
