Health & Environment Trump Administration Renews Order Keeping Indiana Coal Plants Open for the Third Time
The orders keep NIPSCO and CenterPoint plants online as federal regulators cite reliability risks and utilities seek to recover costs from ratepayers in 11 states.
- The Department of Energy extended emergency orders on Tuesday for two Indiana coal plants until Sept. 19, requiring utilities NIPSCO and CenterPoint Energy to maintain operations at the R.M. Schahfer Generating Station and F.B. Culley Generating Station.
- DOE officials invoked Section 202 of the Federal Power Act to block the "premature retirement" of coal generators, citing an energy reliability emergency within the Midcontinent Independent System Operator grid. The agency renewed these orders for 90-day periods in March and June.
- Maintenance issues persist, with NIPSCO taking Units 17 and 18 at Schahfer offline for repairs. CenterPoint Indiana Region President Michael Roeder previously described Culley as an "inefficient and increasingly unreliable asset," accounting for less than 1% of the region's installed capacity.
- Keeping the plants online could cost consumers $174,000 daily for Schahfer and $21,000 daily for Culley, according to a Sierra Club analysis. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission authorized utilities to recover these operational costs from ratepayers across 11 states in the MISO region.
- The Sierra Club and other watchdogs continue challenging the emergency designations in court, arguing no reliability crisis exists. Despite these legal battles, the DOE maintains that taking reliable power offline risks outages as grid demand rises across the Midwest.
17 Articles
17 Articles
Kokomo Tribune
Trump administration renews order keeping Indiana coal plants open for the third time
The Trump administration has renewed an emergency order to keep two aging Indiana coal plants operational through mid-September. Administration officials argue the orders, renewed last Thursday, are necessary to minimize energy costs and prevent blackouts at peak summer demand —…
Trump administration renews order keeping Indiana coal plants open for the third time - Stateline Publications
F. B. Culley Generating Station is coal-powered and located in Warrick County, Ind., along the Ohio River. (Photo by Macabe Brown/Courier & Press)The Trump administration has renewed an emergency order to keep two aging Indiana coal plants operational through mid-September. Administration officials argue the orders, renewed last Thursday, are necessary to minimize energy costs and prevent blackouts at peak summer demand — despite two of the unit…
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