City officials and residents discussed the proposed $7,000,000,000 data center at Harding Elementary School during Mayor's Night Out, focusing on the project's status, power supply negotiations and possible community benefits.

Councilman Scott Rakos said the city council approved a development agreement in spring; the agreement expires Dec. 31 if a power deal is not finalized. "The developer is negotiating with NIPSCO. Part of this is...the developer has to basically fund upfront an entire substation for NIPSCO," he said. The mayor and staff said the developer is negotiating terms including protections in the event the site closes early.

The mayor told residents the city has negotiated a potential municipal benefit tied to the project: "We secured funding for the city, Hammond, for the next 20 years, dollars 4,000,000 a year if this deal closes, 80,000,000 for our city." He said the council will later determine how best to use such funds and mentioned the College Bound scholarship program as one candidate for stable funding.

Residents and a former NIPSCO employee raised power-supply concerns, noting that several large coal-fired units and other local generation have been retired and that NIPSCO would need to secure or purchase substantial capacity. City staff said developers and energy firms have market arrangements to secure needed capacity and that some firms are buying power from large generation projects outside Indiana to meet contractual obligations.

The meeting also included discussion of lakefront access and environmental impacts tied to data center siting. Residents asked that companies that use large amounts of water and shoreline space share access or fund lakefront improvements; the mayor and Port Authority staff noted the lakefront perimeter remains publicly owned and that seawall upgrades will be costly — potentially in excess of $100,000,000 — and require coordination.

No final tax or power agreements were announced. Officials said negotiations with NIPSCO and other private-sector energy partners are ongoing and that the development remains conditional on a completed power deal.