In Franklin Township, Deep Meadow Ventures—a front company for Google—is pushing forward with a plan to construct a massive data center near South Post Road and I-74. On September 8, the City-County Council voted to initiate further public discussions on the rezoning proposal. A final public hearing will be held on Monday, September 22, where 15 council votes will be required to force a reassessment.
For residents, the stakes could not be higher. The project threatens to strain local resources, destabilize the already unreliable AES-managed power grid, and leave the community to bear the costs—while Google walks away with the profits.
The environmental destruction of data centers
Other communities across the United States, particularly in Northern Virginia, offer a stark preview of what happens when Big Tech’s vision of “progress” is allowed to bulldoze the public interest. In those regions, data centers have consumed huge swaths of land, generated noise and air pollution, and diverted potable water into their cooling systems. These operations can consume up to three million gallons per day—a staggering theft of resources in a world increasingly defined by scarcity. Franklin Township risks the same future if this project moves forward unchecked.
Even more troubling is the question of power—both electric and political. Data centers require vast amounts of electricity, straining an AES grid already notorious for its unreliability. Who will pay the price for these new demands? Not Google. It will be everyday residents, who will face higher rates, more frequent blackouts, and fewer guarantees of service. Under Trump’s second term, federal deregulation of environmental and utility oversight has made it easier than ever for corporations to offload their costs onto working people while privatizing the gains.
Can data centers be environmentally sustainable?
But it doesn’t have to be this way. Around the world, countries with socialist and progressive policies or strong public utility systems have demonstrated viable alternatives. Even in capitalist countries like Sweden and Denmark, data centers are required to integrate into district heating systems, meaning their excess heat is recycled to warm thousands of homes. In Iceland and Norway, where public utilities control nearly all electricity generation, renewable hydropower and geothermal energy keep data centers nearly carbon-neutral while protecting community resources. In China and Brazil, state-driven planning has tied data center growth to renewable energy development, ensuring that technological expansion aligns with environmental and social priorities—not just corporate profits.
These examples show a different path forward: when utilities and infrastructure are planned for the public good, technology can coexist with environmental stewardship and community well-being. When utilities are privatized, as they are here in Indianapolis, decisions are made in corporate boardrooms, not in neighborhoods—and profit always comes first.
Franklin Township fights back against Google
The people of Franklin Township deserve better. They deserve power—both electric and political—that works for them. They deserve a future where resources are preserved for generations to come, not siphoned off for a billionaire’s balance sheet. And they deserve the right to say no to Big Tech’s colonization of their land and utilities. Franklin Township residents continue to pack the City-County Council meetings to apply people-powered pressure on the councilors to vote against Google’s interests. On September 22, the council will decide whether to stand with residents or with Google. The Franklin Township residents demand that they choose people over profit, sustainability over exploitation, and democratic control over corporate rule. The future of Franklin Township—and our very power—should remain in the hands of the people, not the banks of Silicon Valley.
Featured image: People outside of the City-County Building to stand in opposition to the proposed environmentally destructive Google data center. Photo Credit: Indianapolis Liberation Center.