Gov. Mike Braun announced an agreement with Eli Lilly and Company April 16 to explore nuclear energy as a way to meet growing energy needs in Indiana.
The agreement outlines Indiana’s intent to explore new nuclear energy technologies with Lilly, such as small modular reactors — which are advanced nuclear reactors that produce a portion of the power a traditional nuclear plant does — and it creates a framework for Lilly and the state to coordinate on planning, regulation, permits and siting a facility.
They will also explore connecting new energy to the existing power grid.
The agreement does not contain specifics about those plans, but indicates that the two may sign more formal partnership agreements in the future.
According to a press release, “Braun’s vision is to make Indiana the premier location to invest and build new nuclear energy, because when we produce more energy, prices for Hoosier households come down.”
The state faces a strained electric grid, in part due to technology companies building massive data centers across the state that connect to the existing power grid. At the same time, residents decry rising electric utility bills.
To address concerns, this year state lawmakers overhauled the way Indiana regulates utility companies and added some consumer protections. The state is also investigating utility bill transparency and energy affordability.
Braun said that he’s looking forward to working with Lilly on additional solutions — and that bringing new power to the existing electrical grid, such as nuclear energy, is a priority for him.
“Indiana is leading on nuclear power, because more energy means lower energy prices for Hoosier families,” Braun said.
This agreement comes after Braun signed a new law that removes regulations for nuclear facilities. The law eliminates Indiana Department of Environmental Management’s authority to issue permits for new nuclear facilities or call public hearings on nuclear safety. Lawmakers said this aligns state law with federal law, and it came as the federal government loosened safety and environmental regulations to accelerate the creation of new nuclear reactors.
Lilly CEO Dave Ricks said the company is proud to partner with Indiana on an energy solution.
“Advanced nuclear technology represents the kind of bold, clean energy solution our state needs to power the next generation of innovation, and it directly supports Lilly’s own commitment to reduce our environmental footprint,” Ricks said.
Lilly recently announced it developed a new supercomputer called “LillyPod,” in partnership with computer chip maker NVIDIA, to supercharge its pharmaceutical research. LillyPod “will power an ‘AI factory,’ a specialized computing infrastructure that manages the entire AI lifecycle from data ingestion and training to fine-tuning and high-volume inference,” according to a press release.
The release also said the computer “will run on 100% renewable electricity within existing Lilly facilities and use Lilly’s existing chilled water infrastructure for liquid cooling” by 2030.
The two companies also announced an AI lab.
It is unclear if the agreement Braun announced this week is related. Spokespeople for Lilly could not be reached for comment by publication.
The agreement — specifically between Lilly and the Indiana Office of Energy Development — lists several areas of collaboration, including feasibility and planning, technology evaluation, regulatory and policy coordination, and workforce and economic development.
It mentions the possibility of connecting to the LEAP Research and Innovation District in Lebanon, which will host a $10 billion data center campus built by Meta.
The agreement will last for two years and became effective when Braun signed it March 30. It is not a contract, and anything binding the two parties must be codified in a separate agreement.
Contact WFYI data journalist Zak Cassel at zcassel@wfyi.org
