Data Center Registry
Amazon Project Rainier
New Carlisle, St. Joseph County, Indiana · All 54 Amazon Web Services sites · Every Amazon case on our tracker
Amazon Project Rainier is an operating data center in New Carlisle, Indiana (St. Joseph County), operated by Amazon Web Services. The public record puts it at announced April 25, 2024, 2.2 GW planned, 1,200 acres, a reported $11 billion investment. It is the subject of active public debate, with hearings, petitions, or organized opposition on record.
Every line on this page traces to a public source listed at the bottom. Where a figure was looked for and not found, the row says so. A blank is never a zero.
Facility record
Operating
- Operator
- Amazon Web Services
- Facility type
- Data center, AI use confirmed
- Location
- New Carlisle, St. Joseph County, IN
- Coordinates
- 41.6978, -86.5117
- Power capacity
- 590 MW operating; 2.2 GW planned
- Land
- 1,200 acres
- Investment
- $11 billion
- Announced
- April 25, 2024
- Utility
- Indiana Michigan Power (AEP)
- Power source
- Grid
- Cooling
- air
- Water use
- 1.58 million gallons a day, reported
- Jobs
- 400 permanent; 600 construction
- Public subsidy
- 10-year 50% real property tax abatement (three parcels), St. Joseph County, Indiana, 2024 | 85% personal property tax exemption on computing equipment (35-year term), St. Joseph County, Indiana, 2024
- Community reception
- Contested
- Source confidence
- Confirmed by multiple independent sources or official documentation
Timeline from the record
Newest first. Record entries come from the filings and reports the registry cites. Coverage entries are headlines from publisher feeds we monitor daily, linked to the outlet; last checked September 14, 2026.
- October 2025OperatingPhase 1 online with ~500,000 Trainium2 chips; primary compute for Anthropic's Claude models; 18 buildings operational Source: CNBC
- September 2024Under constructionConstruction began; seven of 32 planned buildings completed within 7 months Source: CNBC
- April 25, 2024ProposedGov. Holcomb announced $11B AWS data center campus; 1,200-acre site Source: Indiana Economic Development Corporation
Opposition and litigation at this site
Yes. Amazon Project Rainier in New Carlisle, St. Joseph County, Indiana is contested. Hearings, public comment, petitions, or organized opposition are on record, and no lawsuit has been filed so far. IDEM cited Amazon and its contractor for unauthorized wetland impacts and halted work in affected areas pending Section 401 water-quality recertification; a April 2025 public hearing drew 100+ residents opposing a pending wetland-fill permit near Bendix Woods County Park, with concerns over aquifer depletion and utility rates.
How the community has taken it
Reception is a sourced signal, not an editorial judgment: contested means active public debate is on record, with hearings, petitions, or organized opposition, without litigation.
IDEM cited Amazon and its contractor for unauthorized wetland impacts and halted work in affected areas pending Section 401 water-quality recertification; a April 2025 public hearing drew 100+ residents opposing a pending wetland-fill permit near Bendix Woods County Park, with concerns over aquifer depletion and utility rates. Amazon separately committed a ~$143M community enhancement agreement to St. Joseph County.
Power and water
Served by Indiana Michigan Power, an AEP subsidiary. Amazon states it matches consumption with 100% renewable energy; local grid mix is largely nuclear and coal. AEP is acquiring a natural gas plant in Ohio to help serve the load via the grid.
Outside-air (free) cooling for roughly 98% of operating hours, running essentially chiller-free. 1.58 MGD is the Phase 1 permitted cooling-water discharge cap (average discharge ~0.8 MGD). Full-campus water use is not publicly disclosed by AWS; residents have raised aquifer-withdrawal concerns.
Public money on the record
| Program | Amount | Granted by | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-year 50% real property tax abatement (three parcels) | Not established | St. Joseph County, Indiana | 2024 |
| 85% personal property tax exemption on computing equipment (35-year term) | Not established | St. Joseph County, Indiana | 2024 |
Other sites within 30 miles
Distances are between recorded coordinates, many of which are a city or county centroid, so treat them as approximate. Cumulative load on one utility and one aquifer is the question a planning commission rarely asks.
- New Carlisle Chicago Trail Data Center (rezoning denied) · New Carlisle · Undisclosedunder 1 mile · Cancelled · Opposed
- Microsoft La Porte Data Center · La Porte · Microsoft14 mi · Under construction
- Google Michigan City Data Center · Michigan City · Google20 mi · Under construction
- Microsoft Granger Data Center · Granger · Microsoft20 mi · Under construction · 1 GW · Mixed reception
- Hyperscale Data Dowagiac Campus · Dowagiac · Hyperscale Data, Inc.29 mi · Under construction · 340 MW · In litigation
Questions people ask about this site
Is there opposition to the Amazon Project Rainier data center in New Carlisle?
Yes. Amazon Project Rainier in New Carlisle, St. Joseph County, Indiana is contested. Hearings, public comment, petitions, or organized opposition are on record, and no lawsuit has been filed so far. IDEM cited Amazon and its contractor for unauthorized wetland impacts and halted work in affected areas pending Section 401 water-quality recertification; a April 2025 public hearing drew 100+ residents opposing a pending wetland-fill permit near Bendix Woods County Park, with concerns over aquifer depletion and utility rates.
Has anyone filed a lawsuit over the Amazon Project Rainier data center?
No lawsuit over Amazon Project Rainier appears in the record we track as of August 16, 2026. Residents most often reach a lawyer over water supply, well drawdown, noise from cooling plant, property value, or a rezoning approved without the notice the ordinance required. If any of that is happening near this site, it is worth a review whether or not a case has been filed yet.
How much water does Amazon Project Rainier use?
1.58 million gallons a day is the reported figure on record. Cooling is recorded as air. Outside-air (free) cooling for roughly 98% of operating hours, running essentially chiller-free.
Who operates Amazon Project Rainier, and how big is it?
Amazon Web Services is the operator on record. We hold 54 sites for that company across the registry. Capacity on record is 2.2 GW. The site is recorded at 1200 acres.
How to cite this page
SueDataCenters.org Data Center Registry, "Amazon Project Rainier," updated August 16, 2026, https://suedatacenters.org/data-centers/amazon-project-rainier-new-carlisle-in.
Facility data from Compute Atlas (E. Kubiak), version 1.32.0 (September 7, 2026), licensed CC BY 4.0, record https://www.compute-atlas.com/facilities/amazon-project-rainier-new-carlisle-in, retrieved September 14, 2026.
Corrections with a public source are welcome at the Compute Atlas record or through our contact page. The whole registry is available as CSV and JSON under CC BY 4.0.
Sources for this record
As compiled and cited by Compute Atlas, with our own reporting appended. Archived links are used where the original has moved.
- 1.Amazon opens $11B AI data center Project Rainier in Indiana, CNBC · CNBC · retrieved July 5, 2026
- 2.Gov. Holcomb announces AWS plans to invest $11B in Northern Indiana, IEDC · Indiana Economic Development Corporation · retrieved July 5, 2026
- 3.Incentives approved for Amazon data center project · Inside INdiana Business · retrieved July 6, 2026
- 4.St. Joseph County leaders approve $11bn Amazon data center · Data Center Dynamics · retrieved July 6, 2026
- 5.AWS New Carlisle Data Center Campus: Project Rainier · Measured AI · retrieved July 6, 2026
- 6.IDEM halts some work over Amazon's unauthorized wetland impacts · WSBT · retrieved July 6, 2026 · original offline, no archived copy found
- 7.Amazon's 'Project Rainier' starts operations in New Carlisle · WSBT · retrieved August 5, 2026
- 8.Amazon opens $11 billion AI data center Project Rainier in Indiana · CNBC · retrieved August 5, 2026
- 9.AWS New Carlisle Data Center Campus: Project Rainier · Measured AI · retrieved August 16, 2026
Is a data center disrupting your home?
Tell us what is happening. We will connect you with an independent attorney who handles data center cases in your state, free and with no obligation. These cases are commonly taken on contingency, so there are typically no upfront fees.
- Free case review
- Independent attorneys
- No obligation
Attorney or law firm handling data center matters? Speak with us