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Data center campus · Former Jefferson Proving Ground, near Madison, Jefferson County, Indiana

Jefferson Proving Ground data center campus

Approved as of May 20, 2026

A nine-building, 7.1 million square foot campus on 549 acres of the former Army proving ground, owned by the Ford family and near Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge, received a county permit under a classification needing no public notice, then drew a zoning appeal and calls for a moratorium. Also known as: JPG data center.

Cite← Indiana data centers
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PowerNot statedNot reported in the records found
Floor area7,100,000sq ft
Site549acres

Who is behind it

ProjectJefferson Proving Ground data center campusAlso: JPG data center
End userNot found in the recordsNot yet named in any record or credited report we have found.

The record, newest first

  1. The county plan commission declines to start a moratorium process, saying commissioners had already refused one; a plan commissioner adds that a moratorium would not reach the JPG campus. (The Bond Buyer, Sept. 9, 2026)

  2. WFIU reports that the Jefferson County Concerned Citizens group is seeking a moratorium and that no developer has been disclosed. (WFIU/WTIU News, June 26, 2026)

  3. The Board of Zoning Appeals holds a hearing at the county fairgrounds on an appeal arguing a special exception was required, and backs the zoning administrator. (Eagle Country, May 18, 2026; 812NOW, May 16, 2026; When In Your State, May 25, 2026; Tax Not My Liberty (opposition group archive), Oct. 28, 2026)

  4. A Madison Courier item, seen only through a Ground News summary, says the Ford family of Dupont submitted a plan for a 549-acre campus to the county planning office; its headline cites $60 million a year in taxes. (Madison Courier, via Ground News, March 31, 2026)

  5. The county issues an improvement location permit for what it classed as 7.1 million square feet of industrial warehousing, a category that required no public notice because county zoning does not define data centers. (Eagle Country, May 18, 2026)

Conflicts and open questions

  • Developer not established. News outlets say it is confidential or undisclosed, and WFIU says one may not yet have been chosen. The opposition group Tax Not My Liberty names JPG Redevelopment LLC as the applicant on its own site; no record or news report opened confirms that.
  • The same opposition site describes later court filings after the zoning board's ruling. No court record or news report confirming them could be opened, so none are listed here. No finding on the merits.
  • The zoning board's outcome rests on When In Your State, which discloses AI assistance and gives no hearing date; the May 20 date comes from advance notices in Eagle Country and 812NOW and from the opposition site. No vote count was found.
  • Timing of the Economic Revitalization Area conflicts: a WFIU map caption says April; 812NOW listed a May 19 special meeting to decide it, and the opposition site gives May 19.
  • Acres: 549 (Eagle Country, Madison Courier summary, Bond Buyer); more than 550 (WFIU).
  • The opposition site labels the March 31 Madison Courier piece an op-ed. The original could not be opened.
  • No megawatt figure, investment total, utility or water figure was confirmed in a source opened.

The full record

Status note
The county issued an improvement location permit on Feb. 25, 2026, treating the project as industrial warehousing, and the Board of Zoning Appeals later upheld the zoning administrator's reading after a public hearing.
Power note
No figure on record. Eagle Country reported the project could use hundreds of megawatts.
Evidence
News reports; primary records not yet obtained
Size class
50 MW or more (tracker scope)
Map position approximate, from the reported address or area. Updated Oct. 17, 2026.