Megan Wittman, megan.wittman@sierraclub.org
INDIANA – Attorney General Rokita has filed an intervention in a long-dormant case in an attempt to block the retirement of the Rockport coal plant in Spencer County, which is planned to close by the end of 2028. AEP Indiana Michigan Power (I&M), owner of the Rockport plant, is already in the process of building replacement generation.
This is yet another move by the Indiana state government to shield the highly-polluting and uneconomic coal industry, seizing on data centers as the justification, following Governor Braun’s executive order to look into extending coal plants to power AI data centers.
Additionally, the Trump Administration recently renewed its orders to keep the Culley and Schahfer coal plants open, despite both of the Schahfer coal units being broken and CenterPoint, owner of the Culley coal plant, asking the U.S. Department of Energy not to reissue the emergency order, stating that maintaining the coal plant “will require substantial investment to support an inefficient and increasingly unreliable asset.”
In response, Robyn Skuya-Boss, Hoosier Chapter Director, released the following statement:
“We’re still reviewing what has been filed, but our stance on the dangers and high costs of coal remains the same. Extending the life of the Rockport plant, by any measure, is not only dangerous for the environment and public health, but puts Hoosiers at risk for footing the bill to fix and maintain it. Time and again, our state government has shown that their priority isn’t affordability for Hoosier families and small businesses, but that they’ll cut corners however they can to encourage Big Tech to build massive AI data centers in our communities. The American Electric Power Clean Air Act case was filed in the 1990s and has been resolved for many years. The Indiana Attorney General is far too late to engage now. We intend to vigorously defend Rockport’s retirement obligation, which the owner of the plant freely agreed to.”
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