Democratic congressional candidate J.D. Ford is calling on U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz to pursue federal data center regulations after the Republican incumbent requested an independent review of major Indiana projects and their potential effects on utility customers and water supplies.
The exchange centers on who should pay for the electricity, water and infrastructure needed to support large developments — and whether federal review or new legislation will provide the protections both candidates say Indiana residents need.
In a September 9 announcement, Spartz said she sent a letter to Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum requesting a review of the LEAP Research and Innovation District and other major data center projects across Indiana. She wants an accounting of energy and water needs, infrastructure costs and enforceable protections against passing those costs to consumers and taxpayers.
Spartz said she supports advanced manufacturing and strategic industries coming to Indiana, but existing residents and businesses should not subsidize extraordinary private projects. She also said she has raised concerns about data center demands and LEAP’s water needs for two years.
“Hoosiers deserve substantiated answers before these commitments are made,” Spartz said. Her requested review would include projects involving Google, Amazon, Meta and other developers.
Ford, a state senator challenging Spartz in Indiana’s 5th Congressional District, criticized the timing of her request and urged her to introduce federal legislation modeled on his Indiana proposals.
“Congresswoman Spartz is not serious about this issue, because if she were, she would introduce the same legislation that I did in the Indiana Senate in Congress: putting communities in control of whether and when data centers are built, and ensuring no costs are passed on to ratepayers,” Ford said in a campaign release.
Ford introduced Senate Bill 135 in 2025 and Senate Bill 79 for the 2026 session. The proposals called for disclosure of projected power and water use and local site assessments before construction permits could be issued. They also proposed quarterly electricity-use reporting to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission. Neither advanced beyond the Senate Utilities Committee, according to their legislative histories.
Ford also pointed to Spartz’s vote for an earlier version of the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act, arguing that its restrictions on state and local artificial intelligence regulation would have undermined communities’ ability to regulate AI data centers.
The House clerk’s record confirms Spartz voted for the bill on May 22, 2025. That version included a proposed 10-year moratorium on enforcement of certain state and local laws regulating artificial intelligence models, systems and automated decision systems, with exceptions.
However, the moratorium did not become law. The Senate voted 99-1 on July 1, 2025, to remove it from the legislation. Ford’s criticism concerns a provision Spartz supported in the House version, rather than a restriction enacted in the final law.
Spartz’s announcement requests federal scrutiny; it does not announce a completed review or new regulatory requirements. Ford is seeking legislation requiring additional disclosure and oversight before projects proceed.