NiSource signs 20-year Microsoft power deal targeting about 1,100 MW for Indiana data centre campus

NiSource Inc. has entered into a long-term power agreement with Microsoft Corporation to provide energy support for a data centre campus in northwest Indiana, a market news report said. The arrangement is described as lasting 20 years and tied to approximately 1,100 megawatts of generation resources, a scale that reflects the large electricity requirements that hyperscale data centres increasingly require from utilities and generators.

Under the agreement, NiSource is expected to supply Microsoft with generation resources intended to help meet the campus’s electricity needs. The report characterizes the contract as spanning two decades, emphasizing its intended role in long-range capacity planning rather than short-term power procurement.

The data centre project referenced in the report is located in northwest Indiana. For utilities, agreements of this type are often used to align new or contracted generation and grid capabilities with the timing and scale of new load coming online, particularly when customers need firm capacity or long-duration supply certainty.

NiSource, listed on the New York Stock Exchange as NI, is a U.S. energy infrastructure company that operates in regulated and market-facing segments. Microsoft, traded on Nasdaq under the ticker MSFT, is a global cloud provider whose data centres run on a combination of on-site resources, contracted power, and utility-supplied electricity depending on the site and jurisdiction.

Neither the report nor the details provided here specify the structure of the supply arrangement beyond its duration and the size of the generation resources. Important operational details, such as whether the agreement is structured as a capacity contract, a power purchase arrangement, or includes specific generation assets, were not included in the information available for this write-up.

For Microsoft, long-dated power agreements are part of the broader challenge of building and operating data centres at scale while managing energy availability and cost over time. For NiSource, deals like this can provide visibility into demand, supporting planning for how capacity is sourced and delivered to new customers.

Still, several items remain unclear based on the available publication. The report as summarized here does not state the commercial start date of the 20-year term, whether the 1,100 MW figure represents initial capacity, full buildout, or an aggregate commitment across phases of campus development. It also does not disclose any expected implications for NiSource’s regulated rate base or for Microsoft’s specific operational targets tied to that site.

What to watch next is whether NiSource and Microsoft later publish more specifics, including the start of service, contract structure, and any regulatory filings or investor communications tied to the arrangement. Additional disclosures, if any, would clarify how the generation resources are procured and delivered to support data centre construction and ongoing operations.