IPL’s balanced strategy serves customers well

The June 25th article “IPL seeks rate hike to clean up Petersburg coal plant,” offered a one-sided view on changes currently being made to Indianapolis Power & Light Co.’s generation mix. At IPL, we share a common goal for a future with smarter, cleaner and more reliable energy to serve the electricity needs of our customers. We are implementing an all-of-the-above approach of integrating clean and renewable resources with traditional energy sources. In fact, IPL is in the midst of a $1.4 billion investment program and by next spring, the majority of the company’s generating capacity will come from natural gas, wind and solar – which is a major transformation in a very short time.

In three years, IPL has rapidly deployed 96 megawatts of solar through 37 solar farms. These efforts have led to national attention including Indianapolis being recognized as the city with the second-highest amount of Solar PV on a per-capita basis.

While we are reducing our dependence on coal, it still remains a very reliable, affordable and important fuel source. IPL has proposed making additional investments in our Petersburg plant because the alternative to replacing that facility would result in increased financial burden to our customers due to environmental mandates. Having a diverse mix allows electric utilities to utilize the fuel that is cheapest today.

IPL has a history of being a good leader, steward and neighbor here in Indiana. Indiana regulation requires IPL to develop the reasonable least-cost plan to meet customer needs while also meeting current and future expected environmental regulations. The path we have chosen allows us to balance the affordability for our customers and the impact on the environment.

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Rafael Sanchez
Indianapolis Power & Light Co. CEO