LEADING QUESTIONS: IPL chief takes charge
Ann Murtlow describes taking control of the troubled utility and how she handles the demands of serving on a dozen different boards.
Energy & Environment
Articles
Remy rides home new contract from electric motorcycle maker
MotoCzysz sees the Remy motor as part of an electric motorcycle-based drive system—tailored to automobiles. The companies
collaborated on the winning electric bike at Isle of Man race.
Oil, gas investment firm targets downstate potential
Midwest Energy Partners will back two oil/gas producers. New technologies could stoke investor returns from wells in Illinois
Basin, where production peaked decades ago.
Smooth utility deal carries potential bonus for city
If Citizens Energy can successfully manage and mitigate over the next two years the city’s lingering legal and contractual
obligations involving the water and sewer utilities Citizens is negotiating to buy, the city can hang onto an extra $25 million
in the deal.
City lands $13.8M more than expected from water deal
The city's AAA bond rating boosts proceeds to $153.8 million. It originally expected $140 million for street, bridge and
sidewalk projects.
USDA expects record corn crop in Indiana
The U.S. Department of Agriculture expects Indiana farmers to produce more than 1 billion bushels of corn, compared with the
933 million bushels harvested last year. Officials also predict a record crop nationwide.
Battery-maker EnerDel eyes utility power-storage market
Locally based EnerDel Inc. has been riding high on prospects its lithium-ion batteries will be in hot demand to power plug-in
electric vehicles, but another market might be larger. A Piper Jaffray report estimates the global market for batteries used
to store electricity on utility power grids could be $600 billion over 10 years.
Purdue aims to boost solar progress
Purdue University will join the quest for cheap solar-generated electricity with an initiative aimed at speeding up research
across the industry. The Network for Photovoltaic Technology will launch this fall, focused on creating computer models to
eliminate costly and slow trial-and-error research in the solar industry.
Remy to supply motors for all-electric Equinox
Remy International on Tuesday signed a contract with Cincinnati-based Advanced Mechanical Products Inc. to supply motors
for
an all-electric version of the Chevrolet Equinox.
Indiana counselor ‘deeply concerned’ about Duke plant
Indiana Utility Consumer Counselor David Stippler’s comments came four months after Duke Energy revealed the cost of its southwestern
Indiana plant had grown to nearly $2.9 billion, or about twice the project’s original 2007 estimate.
Summer is key time for those who raise Christmas trees
Christmas and July harmonize like a blizzard on Independence Day, but the summer months are perhaps the most vital for Tom
Dull and his wife, Kerry, who raise 23,000 Christmas trees on their peaceful farm in Thorntown.
Consumers facing record prices for bacon
The U.S. hog-breeding herd is near the smallest on record, and wholesale pork-belly prices are up 72 percent in the past year,
to the highest price since at least 1998.
Indiana State Fair’s ‘Year of Pigs’ begins Friday
The industry group Indiana Pork Farmers says the state is home to 3,000 pork producers who raise 8 million pigs and feed 25
million people annually. The industry employs 15,000 people.
Upstart automaker Bright faces tough road in competitive niche
Two years after Bright Automotive was founded, the prospect of thousands of Indiana factory workers cranking out Bright’s
100-mile-per-gallon “IDEA” delivery vans by 2012 seems dim.
Brown County getting state’s largest nature preserve
A state panel has set aside a 3,300-acre tract of Brown County State Park for the largest nature preserve owned by the state.
Farm with 2 million chickens planned in eastern Indiana
An application with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management calls for a six-barn confined animal feeding operation
near the Jay County town of Bryant.
BP: Hayward out as CEO
BP PLC says Tony Hayward will step down as chief executive officer on Oct. 1, to be succeeded by American Robert Dudley.
American could take over Britain’s BP in wake of Gulf oil spill
The man overseeing the much-maligned response by BP PLC to the Gulf oil spill crisis is the likely choice to replace gaffe-prone
Tony Hayward to run the company and would become the first American to ever head the oil giant.
Hoosier Energy reaches settlement with EPA
Rural electric cooperative to pay civil penalty of nearly $1 million for not using most modern pollution controls. Hoosier Energy also to spend up to $300 million on pollution controls at coal-fired plants.
Key city highway to be closed for beautification project
Commuters and truckers could get an all-day headache when Interstate 70 closes in October to allow Eli Lilly and Keep Indianapolis
Beautiful to spruce up part of the city.