Edward Smith, Sierra Club, edward.smith@sierraclub.org
Susan Thomas, Just Transition Northwest Indiana, susan@jtnwi.org
Indianapolis, Ind - Today, the Indiana House of Representatives voted in favor of unnecessary energy inflation for Hoosier families when it passed House Bill 1007, which now goes to the Senate. If passed into law, House Bill 1007 could have a chilling effect on Indiana’s transition from coal-burning toward clean and affordable renewable energy.
The bill creates a cumbersome process and criteria for utilities to retire coal plants, including a duplicative process to evaluate grid reliability that already exists between state regulators and the regional transmission operators that run our electric grid. Lawmakers ultimately want the state to make the final decision on coal plant retirement or coal-to-gas conversions. Governor Braun’s utility regulators just forced Duke customers to pay excessive bills for the coal gasification Edwardsport money-pit, and now lawmakers are advancing proposals that could lock-in our state as one of the most coal-reliant in the country.
House Bill 1007 also provides a blank check for the development of unproven, and expensive small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) technology. The bill enables utilities to collect 80 percent of project development costs up front, and up to 20 percent recovery later in a rate case even if the project never becomes operational. Fitch Ratings notes utilities that pursue nuclear “face the risk of weakened credit quality” and that even the best financial conditions available led to the failure of the government-backed SMR project in Utah. Reporting earlier this week indicates that Duke Energy Indiana is one of the largest single spenders on lobbying in the state.
Statement from Robyn Skuya-Boss, Hoosier Chapter Director for the Sierra Club:
“Hoosier communities need Indiana lawmakers to focus on protecting the interests of hard-working families instead of putting together one of the largest corporate handouts for monopoly utilities and tech companies that Indiana has ever seen. Much like Duke Energy Indiana's $3.5 billion experiment at Edwardsport, state leaders are taking us on another costly detour that will drive energy inflation for Hoosier families and businesses. Affordable renewable energy resources like wind, solar, and energy storage can be deployed now and ensure that we are able to maintain our progress in reducing pollution so that communities in the shadow of coal plants can breathe easier.”
Statement from Christopher Norrick, Activist, Direct Action Against CenterPoint Energy:
"I testified against HB 1007 in the House committee based on the fact that those of us in Southwest Indiana are past our limit with these excessive utility bills. We are already making difficult choices when deciding which bill is going to get paid this month. When I looked at the text of the legislation and noticed that all pre-construction activities of these multi-billion dollar facilities get passed directly to us overburdened ratepayers -- even if the project fails or doesn't get final approval -- I was livid!"
Statement from Ashley Williams, Executive Director, Just Transition Northwest Indiana:
“HB 1007 is deeply personal and is an attack on region residents, so many of whom showed up and spoke out against drastic rate hikes this winter at packed IURC meetings. For far too long, Northwest Indiana has been the fossil fuel industry's dumping ground. This legislation opens the floodgates for faulty technologies that will treat our backyards as testing grounds for unproven SMRs to serve hyper-scale data centers, which will siphon off the only drinking water source for millions and leave us to foot the bill. Coal plant retirements that we have fought long and hard for, like NIPSCO’s Michigan City and RM Schahfer Generating Stations, are also in jeopardy due to this legislation that only serves the insatiable greed of billionaire tech companies and monopoly utilities.”
Statement from Zach Schalk, Indiana Program Director, Solar United Neighbors:
"Hoosiers are experiencing an energy affordability crisis, and HB 1007 will make things worse. This bill gives investor-owned monopoly utilities new opportunities to shift the risk for experimental projects—which have only been expensive failures elsewhere—back on to its customers. Instead, legislators should support policies that benefit everyone, like community solar and net metering."
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About the organizations
Solar United Neighbors (SUN) is a national nonprofit organization working to build a clean, affordable, and equitable energy system that benefits all Hoosiers.
Just Transition Northwest Indiana (JTNWI) is a grassroots environmental justice organization that serves the Northwest Indiana region. JTNWI’s mission is to educate and organize Northwest Indiana communities and workers, give voice to our shared stories, and support a just transition to a regenerative economy that protects the environment, climate, and future generations.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of 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.