Dive Summary:
- The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) approved plans by Indianapolis Power and Light Co. (IPL) to spend $511 million to upgrade its Harding Street and Petersburg coal plants in Indiana.
- The upgrades will help the plants meet federal mercury standards going into full effect in 2016 and will raise electricity rates by 2- 3% annually between 2014 and 2017, with additional rate hikes requiring IURC approval.
- Despite the upgrades and IPL’s plan to build a $631 million gas plant in Martinsville, environmentalists with the Sierra Club are demanding the shutdown of the coal plants, citing the inadequacy of the upgrades. IPL said the upgrades are more cost-effective than demolishing the coal units but critics wrote-off the utility’s calculations as faulty research.
From the article:
“…Indiana’s representative for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign, said the organization plans to speak with its attorneys to find other ways to stop IPL’s projects after the IURC ruling…”