Energy & Infrastructure
The grid can handle it
Greater Lafayette is served by Duke Energy Indiana, with industrial-grade power infrastructure supporting facilities with the energy intensity of pharmaceutical production, aerospace manufacturing and advanced semiconductor packaging.
Area Development's 2024 Annual Corporate Survey ranks highway access in the top ten factors for both corporate executives and site selection consultants. Greater Lafayette has I-65 at multiple interchanges, direct access north to Chicago and south to Indianapolis, Norfolk Southern and CSX freight rail service and Purdue University Airport undergoing passenger runway expansion funded through Indiana's READI program. Indianapolis International Airport is 65 miles south.
Both cities also earned SolSmart Silver designation, a designation awarded to communities that have streamlined solar permitting, inspection and zoning. Both cities also earned Charging Smart Bronze for EV infrastructure readiness.
A climate-ready region
The Greater Lafayette Climate Action Plan was adopted in January 2023 by the cities of Lafayette, West Lafayette and Tippecanoe County — a historic cooperative initiative, two years in development, built from a community-wide greenhouse gas inventory and informed by resident surveys, focus groups and industry roundtables.
The plan focuses on four areas: energy, transportation, agriculture and forestry, and waste. Its science-based target is aligned with the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C commitment: a 58% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. The 2050 target is 80%.
In three years of implementation, the plan has advanced 70% of its 71 actions. What that looks like on the ground:
Both Lafayette and West Lafayette earned SolSmart Silver designation in 2025 — national recognition for streamlining solar permitting, inspection and zoning to make renewable energy development faster and less expensive. Lafayette joined Indiana University's Environmental Resilience Institute to develop a Heat Pump Accelerator program advancing building electrification. Wastewater infrastructure upgrades in both cities now better manage high-volume storm events and reduce flood risk.
