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# 1,100 MW Signed: Who Gets Paid While Microsoft's Indiana Plants Still Wait
- URL: https://www.sotkn.com/markets/us/us-nisource-microsoft-1100mw-october-2026/
- Published: 2026-10-19T02:16:36.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-19T02:55:30.000Z
- Description: NiSource on 16 Oct signed Microsoft to about 1,100 MW from 2028. AGP and GenCo are paid; the only named plant is a 600 MW battery still on paper.
- Author: Sean
- Tags: #market-us

NiSource on 16 October signed Microsoft into a 20-year energy agreement for the northwest Indiana campus. About 1,100 MW joins the pool its generation arm runs for big data-centre customers, Microsoft pays for the generation and transmission it needs, and service starts in 2028\. Who gets paid is AGP Group on the battery toll and GenCo on the pool. The stuck step is named generation: the only plant printed is a 600 MW battery that is not binding until 31 January 2027.

**US PULSE** · Data as at 19 Oct 2026 · Next update: after NiSource Q3 on 28 Oct or a named-plant filing  
**Affects:** [Hyperscalers](https://www.sotkn.com/stack/hyperscalers/) · [Speed-to-power](https://www.sotkn.com/explained/speed-to-power-explained-for-investors/) · Power — **Markets:** [US](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/us/) · [Taiwan](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/taiwan/) · [Korea](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/korea/)

**In short:** NiSource’s 16 Oct release adds about 1,100 MW to a shared pool Microsoft funds from 2028\. The 16 Oct 8-K names one plant: a 600 MW / 2,400 MWh battery whose toll dies unless EPC and interconnection are signed by 31 Jan 2027\. A day earlier NERC’s computational-load standards passed a final ballot at 50 MW. AGP and GenCo are paid first. Named plants still wait. Map of who gets paid — not a buy list.

Education only, not advice to buy or sell any security. Figures: NiSource release 16 Oct, Form 8-K filed 16 Oct (event 15 Oct), IURC Cause 46362 17 Jun, NERC ballot 15 Oct. Our own sums are labelled “our arithmetic”.

## The numbers that matter this month

Pool add (Microsoft)

\~1,100 MW

20-year term from 2028 · Microsoft funds generation and transmission

Primary

Named plant (8-K)

600 MW / 2,400 MWh

Atlas Storage 1 LLC · first phase expected by 1 Dec 2027

Headline

Toll payments (expected)

$2.2bn

\~20.5 years · booked as a finance lease

Paid now

Customer-savings claim

\~$1.75bn

Was $1.4bn · up to $140 per customer a year

Claim

NERC large-load floor

50 MW at ≥100 kV

Final ballot 15 Oct · board then FERC

Overlay

Named generation

Still the bind

One battery, not yet binding. The rest of the 1,100 MW is unnamed.

Stuck step

Status chips are Second Order’s read. Figures come from NiSource’s 16 Oct 2026 release, the Form 8-K filed 16 Oct and NERC’s 15 Oct ballot as reported.

## Why does the US matter now?

Because the US is where AI halls buy watts before they buy wafers, and this week’s print shows a hyperscaler paying for a pool — not for a named plant.

The 15 October pulse, [$4 billion for 702 MW](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/us/us-data-center-fuel-cell-power-october-2026/), read AEP buying fuel cells for Google in Wyoming before the hall existed. Today is the Indiana version of the same clock, on a Microsoft cheque. A signed pool is not a turbine on a pad.

1 · Battery toll

**Who:** AGP Group / Atlas Storage 1 LLC  
**Paid:** expected $2.2bn of storage payments over \~20.5 years if 31 Jan clears

Paid first

2 · The pool operator

**Who:** NiSource Generation Company (GenCo) and NIPSCO wires  
**Paid:** Microsoft funds generation and transmission; existing customers are the stated $1.75bn savings line

Paid on the pool

3 · Amazon’s named plants

**Who:** Two 1,300 MW CCGTs at Schahfer; 400 MW battery at Mitchell  
**Paid:** Amazon, already, under IURC Cause 46362

Different contract

4 · Named generation for Microsoft

**Who:** Not printed, except the battery  
**Paid:** Not yet. A four-hour battery cannot carry a campus that runs all day

Stuck step

**Labels:** *Paid first* \= the toll collects if the conditions clear. *Paid on the pool* \= Microsoft funds the kit GenCo runs. *Stuck step* \= the 1,100 MW is a pool add, not a plant list.

If you only remember one thing: 1,100 MW signed is a pool print, not a plant print. Microsoft is paying to join the machine Amazon already sits on. The machine still has unnamed turbines.

## What changed on 15–16 October

Two NiSource papers and one reliability ballot landed inside 48 hours.

On 15 October, GenCo signed a Battery Storage System Tolling Agreement with Atlas Storage 1 LLC, an indirect subsidiary of AGP Capital Holdings Pte. Ltd. The Form 8-K, filed 16 October, is the hard print. AGP Group will develop, construct, own and operate a 600 MWAC / 2,400 MWh stand-alone battery on the MISO grid. GenCo supplies the electricity that charges it, tells it when to dispatch, and keeps the market revenue. The term is about twenty and a half years from first-phase commercial operation, expected by 1 December 2027\. GenCo expects about $2.2 billion of storage payments, as a finance lease. The toll is not effective until AGP signs an EPC contract and a satisfactory interconnection agreement, both by 31 January 2027\. GenCo holds an option to buy the project later.

On 16 October, NiSource announced a 20-year energy agreement with Microsoft for the previously announced northwest Indiana campus. Service is expected to begin in 2028\. The GenCo-owned pool grows by about 1,100 MW. Microsoft fully funds all generation and transmission required to serve its load. Expected savings for existing NIPSCO electric customers rise from $1.4 billion to about $1.75 billion, or as much as $140 per customer a year. Inside Indiana Business places the campus in La Porte. More detail was promised for the third-quarter call.

The same 16 October release says the 600 MW battery “will be added to GenCo’s pool resource assets designed to serve multiple large-load customers.” It does not say the battery is Microsoft’s, and it does not say the 600 MW is inside the 1,100 MW. Treat that as open.

A day earlier, NERC stakeholders passed a final ballot on Project 2026-02 computational-load standards, Utility Dive reported on 15 October. The rules cover computational loads of 50 MW or more at 100 kV or above. They still need the NERC board and then FERC. ERCOT’s 15 October briefing put every standard above the 66.67% pass line, with CLO-001-1 at 81.58%. Microsoft’s 1,100 MW is 22 times the 50 MW floor (our arithmetic). The ballot does not switch a hall on. It is the overlay: a signed US pool of this size is now a reliability object, not only a customer contract.

![Two blocks: 1,100 MW pool add versus 600 MW named battery for Microsoft Indiana](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cd/10/cd10e222-131f-4ba4-b4a9-ca4214e8c12d/content/images/2026/10/us-nisource-microsoft-1100mw-october-2026-split.png)

1,100 MW signed. 600 MW named. Sources: NiSource 16 Oct 2026; Form 8-K filed 16 Oct. Education only.

## Our math: labelled our arithmetic

NiSource already printed the dollars and the megawatts. What follows is division on those figures, labelled as ours.

- **Battery duration.** 2,400 MWh ÷ 600 MW = 4.0 hours (our arithmetic). A four-hour battery is a shifter, not a campus baseload.
- **Named share, if the battery counts.** 600 ÷ 1,100 = 0.545, or 54.5% (our arithmetic). NiSource has not said it counts. If it does, about 500 MW of the pool add is still unnamed. If it does not, the whole 1,100 MW is unnamed except as “pool”.
- **Toll per year.** $2.2 billion ÷ 20.5 years = $107.3 million a year (our arithmetic).
- **Toll per kW-month.** $107.3 million ÷ 12 ÷ 600,000 kW = about $14.90 per kW-month, before the adjustments the 8-K allows (our arithmetic). That is the price of a named four-hour resource, not the price of 1,100 MW of around-the-clock power.
- **Days until the toll can die.** 31 January 2027 minus 19 October 2026 is 104 days (our arithmetic).
- **Implied Microsoft load, if Amazon’s reserve ratio held.** IURC Cause 46362 records testimony that 3,000 MW of generating capacity is needed to serve Amazon’s anticipated 2,400 MW of load under MISO accreditation — a ratio of 1.25\. 1,100 ÷ 1.25 = 880 MW of load (our arithmetic). Illustration only. NiSource has not given a Microsoft load figure.
- **NERC multiple.** 1,100 ÷ 50 = 22 (our arithmetic). This campus, at the printed pool add, is twenty-two times the computational-load floor that just passed ballot.
- **Savings add.** $1.75 billion − $1.4 billion = $350 million (our arithmetic). That is the Microsoft-shaped increment on a life-of-contract claim, not a cash cheque this quarter.

![Bar chart of our arithmetic on the $2.2 billion battery toll: $107 million a year, $14.90 per kW-month, 54.5 percent named if the battery counts](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cd/10/cd10e222-131f-4ba4-b4a9-ca4214e8c12d/content/images/2026/10/us-nisource-microsoft-1100mw-october-2026-math.png)

Our arithmetic from Form 8-K, 16 Oct 2026\. Education only.

What this tells you: the only named plant is a four-hour battery that is still a pair of contracts, and even if it counts it covers just over half the pool add. The rest has to be gas, other plants or capacity bought in the market, and none of it is named. It does not tell you what a NiSource share is worth. We do not do price calls. The 28 October call is the next place a plant list can appear.

## Where does the money stick?

At the step that already has a toll, and not at the step that is still an empty pad.

![Infographic: where Indiana cash sticks — AGP toll paid first, GenCo pool second, named generation still the stuck step](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cd/10/cd10e222-131f-4ba4-b4a9-ca4214e8c12d/content/images/2026/10/us-nisource-microsoft-1100mw-october-2026-infographic.png)

Pool signed. Named plants still wait. Education only.

**1\. AGP Group, on the storage payments.** Atlas Storage 1 LLC collects a fixed storage rate for two decades if 31 January clears. The 8-K is explicit: payments are based on a fixed rate and actual power capacity. That is who gets paid first on the only named plant. Cell, inverter and transformer suppliers sit behind AGP; they are not named.

**2\. GenCo, on the pool.** Microsoft funds generation and transmission. GenCo runs the portfolio NIPSCO dispatches for large-load customers together. The 16 October release is the pool story: Microsoft joins a shared machine rather than getting Schahfer-style dedicated turbines. GenCo also signs the toll, pays to charge the battery, and keeps MISO revenue. If the pool runs short, that gap is GenCo’s before it is Microsoft’s hall.

**3\. NIPSCO’s wires, on Microsoft’s money.** The release says the new assets will upgrade NIPSCO’s transmission system. Existing electric customers are the stated $1.75 billion savings line, including as much as $140 a year. That is a claim over the life of the contracts, not a tariff sheet.

**4\. Named generation for Microsoft — not yet.** Amazon’s IURC Cause 46362 order named sites: two 1,300 MW combined-cycle plants at Schahfer and a 400 MW battery at Mitchell, with testimony of up to 3,000 MW to cover 2,400 MW of load. Microsoft’s papers name a pool add and one battery that is not yet binding. One-line rule: while this shape holds, the toll is the cash, the pool is the contract, and extra named megawatts still wait.

![Two cards: Amazon’s named Schahfer and Mitchell plants versus Microsoft’s unnamed 1,100 MW pool add](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cd/10/cd10e222-131f-4ba4-b4a9-ca4214e8c12d/content/images/2026/10/us-nisource-microsoft-1100mw-october-2026-plants.png)

Amazon got plants. Microsoft got a pool. Education only.

## Is named generation still stuck?

Yes. A 20-year agreement and a 1,100 MW pool add are a customer contract. They are not a turbine, a busbar, or an interconnection that exists.

Three things keep it stuck. First, the conditions. The only named plant does not exist until AGP signs an EPC contract and a MISO interconnection agreement by 31 January 2027\. Miss that date and the $2.2 billion toll is not effective. That is 104 days from this desk (our arithmetic).

Second, the duration. Four hours of storage cannot carry a training hall that wants power all day. Even if the 600 MW counts toward the 1,100 MW, the unnamed remainder has to do the night shift, and NiSource has not named it.

Third, the clocks in front of a hall. Service starts in 2028\. The release lists regulatory approval as a risk. NERC’s 50 MW standards now sit in front of every US AI hall of this size: board, then FERC. NERC’s January assessment already had summer peak demand up more than 224 GW over ten years, mostly data centres. None of those clocks expires because a pool was signed.

The 15 October US pulse already had the stuck step as firm power at the hall. This print does not move it. It adds a customer to the same bind, on an Indiana pool instead of a Wyoming yard.

## What dates matter

![Calendar of dates that test the signed-pool versus named-plants read, 15 October 2026 to 2028](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cd/10/cd10e222-131f-4ba4-b4a9-ca4214e8c12d/content/images/2026/10/us-nisource-microsoft-1100mw-october-2026-calendar.png)

Dates that test the read. Education only.

- 15 October 2026 — Form 8-K event date. 600 MW / 2,400 MWh toll with Atlas Storage 1 LLC (done).
- 15 October 2026 — NERC Project 2026-02 final ballot (done). 50 MW computational loads at 100 kV.
- 16 October 2026 — NiSource–Microsoft release. About 1,100 MW, 20 years from 2028 (done).
- 28 October 2026, 11:00 EDT — NiSource Q3 call. The test: does a plant list, a Microsoft load figure, or a capex number appear, or only the pool language again?
- 31 January 2027 — Battery EPC and interconnection. The test: does the only named plant become a real contract, or does the toll die?
- 1 December 2027 — First phase of the battery expected in service. The test: is anything actually discharging on MISO, or has the date slipped?
- 2028 — Microsoft electric service under the 20-year term. The test: are the unnamed megawatts named before the hall wants them?

The 28 October call can colour the dollars. Only a plant list, an IURC special-contract filing, or the 31 January papers can move the stuck step.

## How is this different from the 15 October fuel-cell Pulse?

The 15 October pulse was AEP’s $4 billion, 702 MW fuel-cell plant for Google in Wyoming, cells ordered before Google was named. Who got paid was the gear maker. The stuck step was firm power at the hall.

Today is a Microsoft cheque into an Indiana pool, plus an 8-K for a 600 MW battery that is not yet binding. Who gets paid is AGP on the toll and GenCo on the pool. The stuck step is still named generation — the same family as firm power at the hall, a different receipt. Google’s Wyoming plant is a named yard. Microsoft’s 1,100 MW is not.

It is also different from [PJM’s 6.8 GW short](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/us/us-pjm-capacity-shortfall-october-2026/) (a capacity auction, not a customer contract), from [Texas’s $50,000-per-MW large-load rule](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/us/us-texas-large-load-rule-october-2026/) (a queue price, with switch-on paused), and from [Census’s $85 billion data-hall build](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/us/us-data-center-construction-october-2026/) (buildings, not watts). Same US door — power-ready halls — different paper.

## What would change this view?

- NiSource, on 28 October, names the plants behind the 1,100 MW and states whether the 600 MW battery is inside that number.
- A NIPSCO filing at the Indiana regulator with the Microsoft special contract and a site list, the way Amazon’s 2,400 MW was listed in Cause 46362.
- AGP Group signing its EPC contract and a satisfactory interconnection agreement before 31 January 2027, which makes the only named plant real.
- A FERC filing covering NIPSCO and GenCo serving Microsoft.
- A Microsoft load figure, in megawatts, rather than a pool-add figure.
- Evidence that four-hour storage plus unnamed market purchases can carry the campus without new thermal plants — which would move the bind, not remove it.

The view stays intact while the 1,100 MW remains a pool add, the only named plant remains a conditional toll, and 2028 remains the first year Microsoft takes service.

## Practical takeaways

- NiSource, 16 Oct: Microsoft, 20 years from 2028, about 1,100 MW into a shared GenCo pool. Microsoft funds generation and transmission
- 8-K, 16 Oct: 600 MW / 2,400 MWh battery, $2.2bn expected payments, \~20.5 years, first phase by 1 Dec 2027\. Not effective until EPC + interconnect by 31 Jan 2027
- Who gets paid: AGP Group on the toll; GenCo on the pool; NIPSCO wires on Microsoft’s money
- Our arithmetic: 4.0-hour battery; $14.90 per kW-month; 54.5% named if the battery counts; \~880 MW of load at Amazon’s 1.25 ratio — illustration only
- NERC, 15 Oct: 50 MW computational-load standards passed final ballot. 1,100 MW is 22× that floor (our arithmetic)
- Stuck step: named generation. A signed pool is not a plant. Service is 2028
- Watch 28 Oct (Q3 call), 31 Jan 2027 (battery conditions)

## FAQ

**What did NiSource announce on 16 October 2026?**  
A 20-year energy agreement with Microsoft for the northwest Indiana data-centre campus. About 1,100 MW is added to the GenCo pool, Microsoft funds the generation and transmission it needs, and service is expected to start in 2028\. Expected savings for existing NIPSCO electric customers rise to about $1.75 billion. The release is dated 16 October 2026.

**Who gets paid on this print?**  
AGP Group, on expected $2.2 billion of battery storage payments if 31 January 2027 clears, per the 8-K. GenCo, which runs the shared pool. NIPSCO, whose transmission is upgraded on Microsoft’s money. This is a map of who gets paid, not a buy list.

**Why are named plants still the stuck step if 1,100 MW was signed?**  
Because a pool add is not a plant list. The only named resource is a 600 MW four-hour battery whose toll is conditioned on an EPC contract and an interconnection agreement by 31 January 2027\. NiSource has not said the battery is inside the 1,100 MW. Service starts in 2028.

**Does the 600 MW battery equal the 1,100 MW?**  
No. 600 is 54.5% of 1,100 (our arithmetic) only if NiSource counts it that way, which it has not. A four-hour battery cannot carry a 24-hour campus on its own. The unnamed remainder has to be something else.

**Is this investment advice?**  
No. Education only. It maps who gets paid and which step is stuck. It is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security.

## Keep reading on the map

- [US Markets hub](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/us/) — country page
- [$4B for 702 MW (15 Oct)](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/us/us-data-center-fuel-cell-power-october-2026/) — AEP/Google fuel cells; same stuck family, named yard
- [PJM 6.8 GW short](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/us/us-pjm-capacity-shortfall-october-2026/) — auction shortfall, not a customer contract
- [Texas $50,000/MW rule](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/us/us-texas-large-load-rule-october-2026/) — queue price; switch-on paused
- [Speed-to-power, explained](https://www.sotkn.com/explained/speed-to-power-explained-for-investors/) — the long clock
- [NiSource–Microsoft Wire](https://www.sotkn.com/wire/nisource-microsoft-1100-mw-indiana-data-center-power-wire/) — the same 16 Oct print, short
- [All Markets doors](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/) — Taiwan, Korea, US, China

**Get the Wire.** Second Order’s free daily brief on what moved in the AI chip map. [Read the Wire →](https://www.sotkn.com/the-wire/) · [Subscribe free →](https://www.sotkn.com/#/portal/signup)

**Members’ Analysis (teaser):** When packaging catches up, the bind moves through memory to power. Today’s Indiana pool is the contract version of that long clock: the cheque is signed, the named plant still has not. [Read the Analysis →](https://www.sotkn.com/analysis/where-does-the-stuck-step-move/)

**How we check this.** Pool add, term, Microsoft funding, savings claim: NiSource release, 16 October 2026\. Battery MW, MWh, $2.2bn, 20.5 years, 1 Dec 2027, 31 Jan 2027 conditions: Form 8-K filed 16 October (event 15 October). Amazon plants and 2,400 MW load: IURC Cause 46362, 17 June 2026\. NERC 50 MW floor: 15 October ballot as reported by Utility Dive; vote shares from ERCOT’s 15 October briefing. La Porte: Inside Indiana Business, 16 October. Q3 call: NiSource notice, 14 October. [Our editorial standards →](https://www.sotkn.com/editorial-standards/)

Not investment advice. Do your own research.

---

### References

1. NiSource Inc., NiSource announces long-term agreement with Microsoft expected to increase customer savings and support Indiana’s economic growth, 16 Oct 2026\. [investors.nisource.com](https://investors.nisource.com/financial-news/news-details/2026/NiSource-announces-long-term-agreement-with-Microsoft-expected-to-increase-customer-savings-and-support-Indianas-economic-growth/default.aspx?ref=sotkn.com) — 20-year term from 2028; about 1,100 MW; Microsoft funds generation and transmission; savings to about $1.75bn; 600 MW battery added to the pool.
2. NiSource Inc., Form 8-K, Item 2.03, 16 Oct 2026 (event 15 Oct). [sec.gov](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1111711/000119312526423375/d114059d8k.htm?ref=sotkn.com) — Atlas Storage 1 LLC; 600 MWAC / 2,400 MWh; \~20.5 years; $2.2bn expected payments; finance lease; EPC and interconnection by 31 Jan 2027; first phase expected by 1 Dec 2027.
3. Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, Order in Cause No. 46362, 17 Jun 2026\. [in.gov](https://secure.in.gov/iurc/files/ord%5F46362%5F061726.pdf?ref=sotkn.com) — two 1,300 MW CCGTs at Schahfer; 400 MW BESS at Mitchell; Amazon load up to 2,400 MW by end-2032; testimony of up to 3,000 MW of generating capacity.
4. NiSource Inc., NiSource to release third quarter 2026 financial results and host conference call on October 28, 14 Oct 2026\. [investors.nisource.com](https://investors.nisource.com/financial-news/news-details/2026/NiSource-to-Release-Third-Quarter-2026-Financial-Results-and-Host-Conference-Call-on-October-28/default.aspx?ref=sotkn.com) — call 28 Oct 2026, 11:00 a.m. EDT.
5. Robert Walton, Reliability standards for AI data centers, crypto miners move closer to adoption, Utility Dive, 15 Oct 2026\. [utilitydive.com](https://www.utilitydive.com/news/reliability-standards-ai-data-centers-crypto-miners-pass-final-nerc-ba/833094/?ref=sotkn.com) — NERC Project 2026-02 final ballot; 50 MW at 100 kV; board then FERC.
6. Eric Meier, NERC Computational Load Update, ERCOT Large Load Working Group, 15 Oct 2026\. [ercot.com](https://www.ercot.com/files/docs/2026/10/14/02.-NERC-Computational-Load-Update-for-ERCOT-October-LLWG.pdf?ref=sotkn.com) — ballot shares; FERC 16 Jul 2026 filing clock of 31 Dec 2026.
7. NERC, Resource Adequacy Risks Intensify Across North America as Demand Growth Surges, 29 Jan 2026\. [nerc.com](https://www.nerc.com/newsroom/resource-adequacy-risks-intensify-across-north-america-as-demand-growth-surges?ref=sotkn.com) — summer peak demand +224 GW over 10 years; data centres the main source.
8. Alex Brown, NiSource, Microsoft ink deal to power La Porte data center campus, Inside Indiana Business, 16 Oct 2026\. [insideindianabusiness.com](https://www.insideindianabusiness.com/articles/nisource-microsoft-ink-deal-to-power-la-porte-data-center-campus?ref=sotkn.com) — La Porte campus location.