Indiana Approves AES’s Plan for Google’s 390 MW Monrovia Data Center, and Puts $73.8 Million of Upgrades in Rate Base

The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission voted unanimously on October 7, 2026 to approve AES Indiana’s plan to power a 390 MW Google data center in Monrovia. The site is in Morgan County, southwest of Indianapolis. The plan covers two battery energy storage systems, a solar facility and the electric lines that connect them. The order puts the total project cost at $737.3 million. AES describes the wider investment as $1.3 billion.

Google will pay $32.3 million for direct connection facilities. A further $73.8 million in network upgrades goes into AES’s transmission rate base. AES will recover that amount in future retail rates. The contract with Google runs at least 15 years, according to AES. It includes terms meant to keep other customers from paying for upgrades if Google scales back or leaves. AES filed the case on April 22, 2026 as Cause No. 46394. It is the first data center filing under Indiana’s 2025 large-load law, House Enrolled Act 1007.

Why It Matters

HEA 1007 requires data centers and other large users to cover 80% of the costs reasonably assigned to them. The commission found that the Google contract meets that test. Commissioner Joby Jerrells said the agreement “exceeds it substantially.” That finding sets the template for every data center filing that follows in Indiana.

The $73.8 million is where the template gets tested. AES says “None of those costs are shifted to existing AES Indiana customers.” The order says something narrower. AES witness Bickey Rimal testified that putting all of the transmission upgrades on Google would not be reasonable. He said AES had never done that with a customer, and that the upgrades benefit the whole system. The commission agreed. So existing customers carry a share of the network upgrades through rate base.

Who Objected

The Citizens Action Coalition, a consumer group, opposed the cost split. Program director Ben Inskeep named the concern as “a $74 million set of transmission upgrades.” AES identified those upgrades because of the Google load. The Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor did not oppose the plan. Its analyst, Brian A. Wright, still testified that the upgrades would not be necessary without the data center. The AES Indiana Industrial Group and several Morgan County residents also took part in the case.

The Savings Claim

AES says the deal saves other customers about $770 million over the contract term. That figure depends on Google’s demand. New Project Media reports roughly $300 million of fixed-cost support at minimum demand levels, and more than $770 million at forecast demand. The headline number is the forecast case, not the floor.

The resources came from an all-source request for proposals. One is Foundry Works, a 200 MW battery that Invenergy is developing in Lake County. Another is Hardy Hills, a battery that AES will build itself in Dubois County. New Project Media gives two different ratings for Hardy Hills, so MGRID does not report one here. The commission also approved AES’s joint-venture ownership structure and its cost-recovery framework. MGRID did not read the order itself. The figures above come from the press accounts and AES’s own pages.

Sources

• WFYI, Indiana approves AES plan to power Google data center in Monrovia, October 12, 2026
• New Project Media, Indiana regulator clears AES Indiana’s project to serve Google data center in Morgan County, October 2026
• AES Indiana, Powering central Indiana’s future (data center program page), accessed October 12, 2026
• AES Indiana, HEA 1007 filing ensures that Google pays for 100 percent of its energy use, April 23, 2026