Indiana regulators last week denied Sierra Club’s motion to open a subdocket on Indianapolis Power and Light’s (IPL) coal plant operations, despite opening a subdocket for Duke Energy’s coal plant commitments in March.
Testimony from the Sierra Club did not adequately take into account non-economic factors a utility must consider when self-committing, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) wrote in its order. “We find that price risk, reliability, and operational needs are also reasonably factored into the decision process.”
Sierra Club says an inability to provide rebuttal testimony because of a hastened proceeding under COVID-19 guidelines prevented the group from responding in full to the utility’s testimony. The environmental group and Citizens Action Coalition (CAC) of Indiana are now focused on the Duke subdocket, which regulators opened based on evidence the utility lost $6.9 million over three months last year due to its coal plant commitment practices.
“This bill is bad for energy consumers, bad for our air and water, and bad for climate progress at a time when we need to accelerate the clean energy transition, not slow it down,” said Wendy Bredhold, senior representative for the Sierra Club’s “Beyond Coal Campaign” in Indiana and Kentucky.
“Suffering a major blow at the federal level, with the election of Donald Trump, it comes as no surprise that many anti-coal groups, like the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign, have shifted major resources toward state and local initiative.”
Ann Johnson/aka F.B. Fogg is an award-winning artist and entrepreneur. She will have 2 pieces shown at the Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter exhibition, Environmental Justice in Indiana