Move away from coal could be slowed under Indiana bill
State Rep. Cindy Ledbetter introduced the bill this month, saying utilities are moving too fast to retire and replace generating capacity that might be needed as demand for electricity grows.
State Rep. Cindy Ledbetter introduced the bill this month, saying utilities are moving too fast to retire and replace generating capacity that might be needed as demand for electricity grows.
No date was given for when existing coal-powered plants would have to go, but other Biden regulatory actions and international commitments already in the works had meant no coal by 2035.
More than a third of coal ash sites are in five states, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Kentucky, according to data compiled by Earthjustice.
New coal plants were added in 14 countries, and eight countries announced new coal projects. The United States, however, saw significant shutdowns of coal-using plants.
On Wednesday, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed the most stringent update on limits to mercury from smokestacks since the Obama administration first issued Mercury and Air Toxics Standards in 2012.
The International Energy Agency said “robust demand” for coal in emerging Asian economies is offsetting declining use in mature markets.
More than 90% of global electricity expansion will be from renewable sources in the coming five years, the International Energy Agency said, revising its forecast for 2027 upward by 30%.
As Indiana looks to form an energy policy of the future, not everyone is in agreement on how much of a role fossil fuels will play in that equation.
A major economic bill headed to the president has “game-changing” incentives for the nuclear energy industry, experts say, and those tax credits are even more substantial if a facility is sited in a community where a coal plant is closing.
The extra funding in the infrastructure law is meant to both eliminate pollution from mining sites and to provide job opportunities in communities that have historically relied on coal mining. Indiana could get more than $24 million
The parent of electric utility AES Indiana announced Friday morning it plans to give up coal as a fuel source, a move likely to lead to the early shutdown of coal-fired units at its massive Petersburg Generating Station.
Plants in four states, including Indiana, will have to close the coal ash ponds months or years ahead of schedule, the EPA said Tuesday, citing deficiencies with groundwater monitoring, cleanup or other problems.
The state’s largest electric utility wants to retire much of its coal-fired generating fleet by 2035, but critics say Duke Energy lags all other Indiana utilities in the green-energy transition.
The utility’s R. Gallagher power plant, which boasts twin smokestacks that have long towered over the Ohio River city of New Albany, was scheduled to be retired in 2022, but will now close much earlier.
Coal is rebranding itself from a dirty, low-tech fuel into a reliable source of energy. And it might have powerful friends in the Indiana General Assembly in that effort.
The first mine in Warrick County—in the heart of Indiana’s coal country—opened on Pigeon Creek in 1818. By the end of that century, the Pigeon Creek area had some 97 active mines.
The 21st Century Energy Policy Development Task Force, which was set up to guide lawmakers in crafting a long-term energy plan, voted 11-4 on a series of findings and non-binding recommendations.
A state energy task force is considering a sweeping array of measures that seem to favor existing large-scale utilities, many of which still burn coal, over providers of renewable energy.
The Indianapolis-based utility said it also will spend $5 million to mitigate what critics say has been harm to the environment caused by the plant’s excess emissions over the years.
The federal rescue measure was designed for companies with fewer than 500 workers, but Small Business Administration guidelines allow some bituminous coal mining firms with up to 1,500 employees to qualify for the loans.