Contact: Melissa Williams, melissa.williams@sierraclub.org
INDIANAPOLIS, IND.— About 160 community members and activists today attended the “Race to Renewable Energy Rally,” at the American Legion Mall, an event to highlight how Indianapolis compares to other major cities in transitioning to 100 percent renewable energy and accomplishing its climate goals.
Sierra Club is calling on Indianapolis Power and Light (IPL) to retire the Petersburg coal burning plant by 2028 and replace it with renewable energy. The plant, located 40 miles northeast of Evansville, is one of the nation’s 22 Super Polluters—meaning it’s among the largest toxic polluters and climate polluters. The Petersburg plant is dirty, costly, unneeded, and a major barrier to Indianapolis’ climate commitments.
IPL is currently conducting its 20-Year energy planning process* for how the utility aims to generate electricity for its more than 470,000 customers over the next few decades. IPL will submit this plan to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission on Dec. 16.
Halee Griffey, an honors scholar at the IUPUI School of Liberal Arts, was an emcee at today’s rally. "I’m here because I believe renewable energy cannot be placed on the back burner much longer. Only when we face this issue will we become a more sustainable city and set an agenda for others to follow - a force for now and the future."
Margo Tucker, assistant legal counsel for the Citizens Action Coalition, was one of several speakers at today’s rally. “IPL’s continued reliance on burning coal at Petersburg is inconsistent with the stated goals and priorities of the City of Indianapolis, and moreover, is contrary to the moral obligation we all face to decisively and rapidly address the climate crisis. CAC calls on IPL as the sole provider of electricity to our city, to fully retire the Petersburg coal-fired plant no later than 2028, and immediately transition their entire generation portfolio to clean, and locally-sourced renewable energy resources. A swift clean energy transition will improve environmental quality in our state, boost our local economy, and vastly improve our overall quality of life.”
Heath Jones, senior pastor at Northwood Christian Church, said, “To devastate our planet and cause harm to human communities is to damage what God loves. Jesus’ call to care for the poor is directly linked to our call towards environmental justice, because the ecological devastation of our times makes poor communities poorer and turns once sustainable communities into poor communities. Right now, for Indianapolis and IPL, this means moving on from Petersburg, one of the most polluting power plants in our country.”
And speaker Kendall Ludwig, project manager with GRNE Solar-Indiana, added, “Throughout the past couple of years, GRNE Solar has partnered with utilities throughout the Midwest to utilize solar to replace harmful fossil fuel emissions generated by coal and gas-fired power plants. Just this summer, we installed more than 7,000 solar panels in Indiana, exclusively for Indiana utilities. We are well-positioned to continue to bolster these efforts to protect the environment by assisting all Indiana utilities to transition to 100% renewable energy as soon as possible.”
*More details about IPL’s 20-Year Energy Planning Process are available here.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, 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.