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Mayor Dermody and Bert Cook defend Microsoft data center plans, emphasize water safeguards and jobs
Summary
La Porte leaders presented details of Microsoft’s data center project, saying the facility will use closed‑loop cooling, have limited city water use and bring local jobs and tax revenue; commissioners and residents pressed for technical details on dewatering, heat dissipation and site infrastructure.
La Porte officials and economic partners presented an overview of Microsoft’s data center project to the Sustainability Commission, stressing water protections, power‑system investments and community benefits while answering residents’ technical questions.
Bert Cook, executive director of the LaPorte Economic Advancement Partnership, told the commission that most modern data centers use closed‑loop cooling and that "the only water from the city of LaPorte that Microsoft uses is for their bathrooms, their kitchens, and their coffee makers," characterizing the campus as a small domestic water consumer. Cook said cooling systems are typically trucked in and, after a long reuse life, disposed of under EPA rules.
Why it matters: Water use and dewatering were the meeting’s dominant public concerns. Officials said the site’s water‑table conditions mean significant construction dewatering is not expected, and they urged residents with detailed technical questions to consult the city’s water and wastewater superintendents.
Cook and the mayor said Microsoft’s campus sits on a 489‑acre parcel currently under construction and that a petition to annex roughly 1,300 additional acres is pending before the city council. Cook said the first phase, as currently planned, would take about 5–7 years to build.
Officials addressed grid and noise concerns as well. Cook said the project will require a major substation and that Microsoft typically funds generation and transmission work required for large facilities; the substation for the first phase is being prepared on site and will be served through NIPSCO. On noise, presenters cited industry guidance (about 55 decibels at the property line) and said the campus is designed to meet existing standards.
On backup power and air quality, presenters said diesel generators are used rarely — primarily for monthly testing and outages — and described Microsoft’s backup design as comparatively low‑impact. The presenters said other options (battery systems or evolving technologies) are also part of the ongoing engineering discussions.
Cook quantified local economic effects the city sees from the project: he said Microsoft projects roughly 200 high‑wage, full‑time jobs for the first phase and estimates of construction employment in the thousands during buildout. He also described community benefits the city secured: Microsoft will pay full property and personal property taxes after the city rescinded an earlier pilot payment‑in‑lieu agreement; Cook said 15% of tax revenue was committed to the local school corporation.
Direct company contacts and follow‑up: Cook named Meredith Liza (Microsoft community affairs) and Mike Stockwell (land development and permitting) as long‑term points of contact and pointed the public to the Indiana data‑center portal and a provided email and phone number for project questions.
During Q&A, commission members and residents asked about dewatering, potential effects on local wells and closed‑loop heat dissipation to the ground. Presenters reiterated that the project team and city water staff do not expect Lake Michigan or local lakes to be tapped, and encouraged residents to follow up with technical staff for circulation‑level detail and modeling data.
Next steps: Cook said the council will consider the annexation petition in May; the project timeline and technical designs will continue to evolve as additional permitting and engineering work proceeds.
