Indiana utility regulators have approved a new ownership structure and granted eminent-domain authority for three power line projects, clearing a major hurdle for the electrical infrastructure racing to keep pace with the LEAP Research and Innovation District's explosive growth in Boone County. Two of the three lines are tied directly to the district's two anchor tenants: a massive Meta data center and an expanding Eli Lilly and Co. manufacturing complex.
The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission's order, issued under Cause No. 46387, authorizes Wabash Valley Transmission Co. — a joint venture combining Wabash Valley Power Alliance with Chicago-based developer Viridon Midcontinent — to act as a public utility in building the projects, according to The Republic. Viridon is backed by private equity giant Blackstone and, per the same reporting, provides the venture better access to capital markets. Wabash Valley Power Alliance itself is a generation and transmission-owning nonprofit electric cooperative, and it jointly owns the 720-megawatt St. Joseph Energy Center natural gas plant in New Carlisle with Hoosier Energy, a stake the two utilities finalized in March 2025 after the plant was built in 2018, according to Hoosier Energy.
Why Boone County Needs Two Dedicated Lines
Two of the three approved projects will serve high power demands in Boone County tied largely to the LEAP district, while the third connects St. Joseph Energy Center to the Midwest grid, allowing the plant, already integrated into PJM, to connect to the MISO market. Altogether, the projects include 34 miles of 138-kilovolt lines and 66 miles of 345-kilovolt lines, the outlet's report notes. Utility testimony filed with the commission in April further broke the LEAP-related work down to roughly 12 miles of double-circuit 345-kilovolt line and 21 miles of single-circuit 138-kilovolt line, plus the 15-mile Elderberry-Stillwell 345-kilovolt line linking into the MISO market, according to filings on the IURC Online Services Portal.
The scale of demand behind those lines is staggering. Meta broke ground in February on a $10 billion, 1-gigawatt data center campus spanning 1,500 acres and 13 buildings inside the LEAP district, according to the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. Eli Lilly, meanwhile, committed an additional $4.5 billion in May to its manufacturing campus there, pushing its total Indiana capital commitment since 2020 past $21 billion while opening its Lilly Lebanon Advanced Therapies facility, per Eli Lilly and Company — a buildout Hoodline covered in Lilly pours in billions more.
Consumer Watchdog Pushed Back Hard
The approval did not come without a fight. The Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor asked the commission to deny Wabash Valley Transmission's request to decline state jurisdiction over certain financial and ownership aspects of the projects, and separately challenged the lack of oversight over ownership transfers between Wabash Valley Power Alliance and the new transmission company. The watchdog agency raised concerns that cooperative ratepayers could end up paying for the project through rates if Viridon were to withdraw from the venture.
Wabash Valley Transmission disputed that risk in its filings, saying issues involving the joint venture would instead fall under Federal Energy Regulatory Commission oversight, and arguing the arrangement benefits cooperative ratepayers because the transmission projects would need to be built regardless of who owns them. Vicki Gardner, vice president of marketing and communications at Wabash Valley Power Alliance, said the joint venture will support needed transmission projects while preserving flexibility for future investments.
Eminent Domain Authority Granted Over Landowner Objections
The consumer counselor also requested the commission deny eminent-domain authority for the new lines — authority that lets utilities and government entities take private land for public use with compensation decided in court. Wabash Valley Transmission countered that without that authority, it could be unable to purchase necessary property rights, warning that a single unwilling landowner could block the entire project.
The commission ultimately sided with the developers. It found that demonstrated project need, FERC oversight, and Viridon's access to capital made abandonment of the project unlikely, and concluded that existing eminent-domain law provides sufficient protections for landowners while finding the authority necessary to ensure the lines get built. The commission did decline state jurisdiction over certain financial and managerial aspects of the projects, even as the consumer counselor said it is still reviewing the full order.
State Policy and Local Friction Over Resource Strain
In its filings, Wabash Valley Transmission cited an executive order addressing growing energy demand.
Not everyone locally has welcomed the pace of development. Boone County Commissioners enacted a one-year moratorium in June on new data center applications in unincorporated areas to study utility impacts, though Meta's campus was exempted because of its prior annexation into Lebanon — a tension Hoodline detailed in its report on the county's data center moratorium. Meta has said it will match 100% of its Lebanon data center energy consumption with clean renewable power while funding more than $75 million in local public water infrastructure projects in Boone County, according to Inside INdiana Business.
Water, not just electricity, has become its own flashpoint for the district. The Indiana Finance Authority funded a water initiative of more than $700 million designed to supply Lebanon Utilities with up to 25 million gallons of water daily via a 52-mile pipeline managed by Citizens Energy Group, the City of Lebanon has said. That strain also prompted state legislators to introduce Senate Bill 4 in 2025, establishing Indiana Department of Natural Resources oversight for high-volume water transfers, according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
