Ricky Junquera, Ricky.Junquera@sierraclub.org, (617) 599-7048
Indianapolis, IN - At 4:30pm today, local consumers and clean energy advocates will gather for a holiday-themed protest in front of Indianapolis Power & Light (IPL) headquarters, because 2017 was a bad year for clean energy in Indiana and Indianapolis Power & Light is on the Clean Energy naughty list.
Earlier today, IPL asked the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to raise customer rates by 9.1 percent in 2018 to pay for a new fracked gas plant and the super polluting Petersburg coal plant.
Why they are on the naughty list:
IPL started off 2017 by lobbying Indiana legislators to pass anti roof-top solar legislation that hurt congregations, people, small businesses, schools, and the planet.
IPL continues to burn coal, harming our neighbors in southern Indiana. Indiana has five of the nation's 21 toxic Super Polluters, including IPL's Petersburg coal plant in Southwest Indiana. IPL has no plans to retire its Super Polluter but wants Indianapolis residents to continue to spend millions of dollars to keep the expensive plant running into the 2030s.
IPL wants to charge customers an additional $124.5 million per year -- purportedly for “clean energy” -- but has added no new wind or solar power since 2013. IPL continues to spend recklessly on fossil fuels and tie customers to a future with unnecessary, polluting power plants.
Indianapolis residents want a clean closure of coal ash ponds on the southside of town. IPL's proposed plan to cap the coal ash in place leaves Indianapolis residents and the White River at risk.
“We hope Raphael Sanchez, CEO of IPL, will help get IPL off the naughty list in 2018, even though today IPL announced plans to raise customer rates for a huge fracked gas plant it doesn’t need. IPL should reflect on their bad behavior in 2017 and strive to do better by the people of Indianapolis,” said Annette Johnson, board member of Hoosier Interfaith Power & Light and an IPL customer.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.