Op-Ed: Utility bills are going up for the sake of scoring political points

When I talk to Hoosiers about the issues they face every day, skyrocketing energy costs are always near the top of the list. A federal order forcing outdated, expensive coal plants to continue running is only sending bills higher.

Recently, the Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) asked state regulators for approval to recover $38 million from ratepayers, which is the cost of complying with a federal order requiring the utility to keep the aging Schahfer coal plant running in Jasper County. Estimates suggest this order could cost NIPSCO customers as much as $174,000 every day. This request also only covers three months of operations, so more will come. Nobody in Indiana voted for this.

Hoosiers are already stretched thin. Worse, many of the same residents being asked to pay more spent weeks without power due to severe weather in August. They aren't being asked to pay extra for more reliability, but to prop up an outdated plant. Keeping an old coal plant on life support does nothing to strengthen the lines that fail in a storm.

Before this federal order, Schahfer was already costing customers money. One report found that from 2021 to 2023, running the plant when cheaper power was available cost ratepayers over $100 million. Hoosiers were already overpaying for coal power that cleaner, cheaper sources could have supplied. This mandate makes it worse.

Southern Indiana ratepayers face the same problem with a CenterPoint plant. Recently, CenterPoint's Indiana region president asked the Department of Energy to let the initial order on its unit expire, calling it an "inefficient and increasingly unreliable asset." When the utility itself doesn't want to keep a plant running, it’s hard to justify these federal orders.

Neighboring Michigan could provide a path forward.  In early September, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a ruling allowing the closure of a Michigan coal plant that a federal order had forced to remain open. In Indiana, environmental and consumer groups have already challenged the mandates in the same court. This is a promising sign that these orders can be challenged and ratepayers don't have to simply absorb the cost.

The financial burden on Hoosier families demands action from the state's leaders – not celebrating higher bills as Gov. Mike Braun has, or lawsuits to keep other coal plants open, as Attorney General Todd Rokita has. When even the utility wants a plant shut down and the numbers show it's costing customers money, the only thing left keeping it open is politics. For some politicians, propping up coal has become a loyalty test, and what that does to your utility bill simply doesn't factor in.

Fighting for clean, affordable energy isn't new to me. I've spent most of my adult life working to protect the things that keep Hoosier families healthy: the air our kids breathe, the water that comes out of our taps, and the soil where we grow our food. I know what's at stake when we cling to the dirtiest, most expensive ways of making electricity. I want Hoosiers to have a healthy environment and affordable power bills. Those goals aren't at odds.

Every available data point shows Hoosiers and other Americans are most worried about the cost of living. On energy, the cold, hard economic facts are on our side, and leading with them is how we build a coalition broad enough to win. That's what makes these coal mandates so telling. When the cheaper option is also the cleaner one and some leaders still fight for the expensive one, affordability clearly isn't their priority, no matter how often our governor claims it is.

If an aging coal plant is worth keeping open, its backers should be able to prove it's cheaper and more reliable than the alternatives. They can't make that case for Schahfer or the CenterPoint plant, and households that had no say are footing the bill. Hoosiers deserve energy that is dependable, affordable and clean, and leaders who care more about their constituents' bills than their party's talking points. 

Charging Hoosiers an extra $174,000 a day to keep an outdated plant running isn't the answer.