An electric co-op supplying power to customers in 48 central and southern Indiana counties could face a perilous spike in
its financial load following a $120 million claim against it by insurance giant John Hancock Life Insurance Co.
The Indiana Municipal Power Agency said it has agreed to buy up to 50 megawatts a year from Crystal Lake Wind Energy Center
in Hancock County, Iowa.
A report from Purdue University suggests industrial customers in
Indiana could see disproportional rate increases in the years ahead as the state’s coal-intensive electric utilities are forced
to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
Utility ratepayer groups say House Bill 1496, which is stuck in committee, is typical of what they see as a disturbing trend:
allowing utilities to pass the cost of mandates directly to consumers. HB 1496 would require Indiana’s coal-reliant electric
utilities to generate at least 10 percent of their power from renewable energy sources like wind and landfill gas.
The Time Factory founder and CEO Jim Purcell wants to erect a 150-foot-tall wind turbine above his calendar factory near 62nd
Street and Georgetown Road. Purcell figures the $200,000 contraption could power 60 percent–if he’s lucky, maybe 80 percent–of
his 22,000-square-foot facility.
I Power Energy Systems, which makes natural-gas-powered electric generators that are the primary power source of corporate
and college campuses, is a novelty in Indiana. After all, coal is still a cheaper source of electricity than is natural gas.
But I Power is developing applications for electric generators that burn biogas from sources ranging from garbage to ground-up
corn.
