Braun touts efforts to bring down energy costs following session, highlights data center agreement

Governor Mike Braun touted efforts to reduce energy costs for Hoosiers during a press conference on Monday. 

The governor discussed legislation passed during the 2026 session and measures to hold utility companies accountable. 

Braun pointed to an announcement from Indiana Michigan Power last week that they would reduce rates as an early win. 

“The message is clear, we want you to give us reliable electricity, but you're not going to do it on the backs of ratepayers and consumers,” he said. “It's the first time that dynamic has changed in my observation of watching utility rates over a long period of time.”

The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission announced plans last month to investigate utility companies after receiving complaints from ratepayers about the increase in energy costs. 

A public hearing is slated for the end of March. 

“No governor has taken [energy companies] on because it's like taking the health care lobby on, and it's evolved into where the cards were stacked in their favor,” Braun said. 

Braun also addressed concerns that new data centers could increase local energy bills. 

During the press conference, Braun told reporters that any data centers moving to Indiana will have to provide 100% of their own energy. 

It’s the deal Indiana struck with Meta, which owns Facebook, and is building a data center in Lebanon. 

The deal builds on a federal initiative recently touted by President Donald Trump called the Ratepayer Protection Pledge. It includes promises from large tech companies to build, bring, or buy power resources necessary to support new data centers.

“You're going to shoulder 100%, and you're going to ideally put more on if you want to come here and do business,” Braun said. 

When asked by reporters whether he would support putting that requirement into law, Governor Braun said he would.

Speaking with reporters following the Governor’s press conference, Rep. Carey Hamilton (D-Indianapolis) said assurances from data centers to supply energy to the grid aren’t enough. 

“I don’t believe in promises, I believe in laws,” Hamilton said. 

Hamilton also argued lawmakers could have gone further in addressing rising energy costs for Hoosiers, pointing to a number of Democrat-introduced amendments that were not adopted during this most recent legislative session. 

Among those was a provision that would have created a process around the sale of utility companies to private equity firms. Hamilton and others, including the State Treasurer, have raised concerns about the sale of utility company AES to BlackRock. 

“I think history tells us, from sales of utilities in recent years to private equity, that it does not benefit ratepayers, that costs do go up, that services may go down,” Hamilton said. “So I'm very concerned about this sale.

Contact Government Reporter Benjamin Thorp at bthorp@wfyi.org