Muda69 Posted December 29, 2025 Posted December 29, 2025 https://www.indystar.com/story/opinion/columnists/jacob-stewart/2025/12/23/citizens-energy-private-land-leap-district/87783687007/?tbref=hp Quote Citizens Energy might seize hundreds of homeowners’ properties to serve the LEAP-Lebanon Innovation District, including a data center. It can do this because utility monopolies have a power called eminent domain. That allows them to force the owner of private property to sell their land or the use of it. That power is primarily intended to let them build public infrastructure that serves the common good. Serving a data center is anything but. Indiana needs to ban monopoly utilities from seizing private property to benefit Big Tech. The LEAP District doesn't help taxpayers The water pipeline will stretch 52 miles from Indianapolis to Lebanon, impact more than 400 homeowners and pump 25 million gallons per day to ensure the LEAP District has enough to go around. Tenants of the industrial park include Eli Lilly and a Meta data center, the latter of which plans to use 3 million gallons of water per day. The LEAP District is perhaps the most controversial example of a public-private partnership to develop land and attract large corporations to the state. The project's total cost is estimated between $500 million and $700 million, initially supported by $75 million in state loans until LEAP District businesses can repay the costs. It is a product of the Indiana Economic Development Corp., which has been under fire in recent months over how it has directed state dollars to private companies. Gov. Mike Braun, for his part, has redirected the IEDC to focus more on supporting small businesses and entrepreneurship. There is a lot of data to show that the former approach wasn’t delivering much of a benefit to the public for their troubles. Taxpayers probably spent $70,000 on economic development per job created in the state from 2022 through 2024, per Ball State University economist Michael Hicks, who is a contributing columnist for IndyStar. Data centers in particular don’t provide much of a public benefit, but they use vast amounts of resources, including electricity, and raise prices for everyone else. Originally, the LEAP District was going to take water from the Wabash River, but public backlash and concerns about availability led to a change of plans. The choice to pump Indianapolis’ natural resources dozens of miles away for private benefit was a desperate attempt by all parties involved to salvage a taxpayer-funded project that was misguided from the start. Eminent domain gives landowners less leverage That’s not to say the project shouldn’t or can’t continue. In a free market, private businesses pay private landowners for their property all the time. They just have to pay the landowner what they think their land is worth rather than what a court tells them. Eminent domain eliminates the one negotiation tactic landowners have: the ability to walk away. In a free market, the ability to refuse a deal forces the monopoly utility to offer fair terms. If the utility doesn't like what landowners demand, it can approach a neighbor instead. Both parties have equal leverage. Eminent domain destroys that balance. That equality makes sense because there is no reason why the private benefit of a landowner should be treated as less important than the private benefit of a trillion-dollar company like Meta. Citizens Energy does not want to seize land to build a park or a school, which might benefit the community in some way. It wants to seize land specifically to pump resources past a community and benefit private businesses that may not even be part of it. Those private businesses already receive millions of dollars worth of tax breaks. The data center, in exchange, will reportedly pay Lebanon around $1.5 million annually. Even so, none of that money will benefit residents outside of Lebanon forced to sell the use of their land. What’s the purpose of private property if it can be taken at any time for a reason that doesn't benefit the owner at all? The state needs to step in and ban monopoly utilities, which are supposed to serve the public, from using the threat of eminent domain to seize land for private profit. The scourge called eminent domain strikes again. And this LEAP district in Boone county continues to show it is nothing but a farce, a drain on taxpayer funds and freedom.
Bobref Posted December 29, 2025 Posted December 29, 2025 1 hour ago, Muda69 said: https://www.indystar.com/story/opinion/columnists/jacob-stewart/2025/12/23/citizens-energy-private-land-leap-district/87783687007/?tbref=hp The scourge called eminent domain strikes again. And this LEAP district in Boone county continues to show it is nothing but a farce, a drain on taxpayer funds and freedom. You’re just going to love what happens if this “Bears to NWI” thing gains any traction.
Muda69 Posted December 29, 2025 Author Posted December 29, 2025 3 hours ago, Bobref said: You’re just going to love what happens if this “Bears to NWI” thing gains any traction. Agreed. All Indiana citizens who will be forced to fund such a boondoggle should demand a Bears season ticket.
Bobref Posted December 29, 2025 Posted December 29, 2025 1 hour ago, Muda69 said: Agreed. All Indiana citizens who will be forced to fund such a boondoggle should demand a Bears season ticket. I’m speaking specifically about the use of eminent domain in connection with a new stadium complex and adjoining area.
Muda69 Posted December 30, 2025 Author Posted December 30, 2025 17 hours ago, Bobref said: I’m speaking specifically about the use of eminent domain in connection with a new stadium complex and adjoining area. Yes, so am I. Where does the money come from for the government to "purchase" private property using eminent domain? It's all rolled up into government funded boondoggles like sports stadiums/venues.
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