Grand jury indicts former state utilities chief Hardy
David Lott Hardy, who was fired from his job as chairman of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission in 2010, is accused of official misconduct.
Energy & Environment
Articles
Downtown getting blast-resistant manhole covers
Utility crews are installing about 100 new manhole covers in downtown Indianapolis that are designed to reduce the extent of damage from underground explosions and fires.
Hoosier Environmental Council joins forces with upstate advocacy group
Valparaiso-based Legal Environmental Aid Foundation will help HEC extend its reach.
Environmental group to focus legislative efforts on energy savings, transit
Led by Jesse Kharbanda, the Hoosier Environmental Council is keeping its agenda lean to boost chances for success in short session.
Bad weather for some Indiana crops helped vineyards
Purdue University wine experts say lousy growing conditions this year for some Indiana crops proved ideal for the state's vineyards.
Land gift preserves 40 acres in Indianapolis suburbs
The donation to the Central Indiana Land Trust comes from farmer Van Eller, who lived most of his life on the land now surrounded by Fishers and Carmel subdivisions before he died last year at age 89.
Daniels using policy post to lobby for oil pipeline
The Indiana governor says the U.S. Senate should support the Keystone XL pipeline, which would bring tar sands oil from Canada to the United States.
Two Indiana environmental groups merging
The Hoosier Environmental Council and the Valparaiso-based Legal Environmental Aid Foundation say they're merging in hopes of advancing environmental issues in Indiana.
Investors in Midwest Energy Partners await gusher
The company raised $4.6 million to drill for oil in southwestern Indiana and southern Illinois.
Ford sees EV potential in Indianapolis
Ford touts new models of electric and hybrid vehicles in seminar co-sponsored by the Greater Indiana Clean Cities Coalition, which promotes alternative fuels.
Plans delayed for wind farm near Purdue University
An Indianapolis developer says it is still trying to arrange financing to build wind turbines on farmland owned by Purdue University and nearby privately owned property in West Lafayette.
Regulators approve deal on $2.65B gasification plant
Indiana regulators have approved plans for a $2.65 billion coal gasification plant at the Ohio River city of Rockport and a state agency's 30-year contract to buy its synthetic natural gas.
Citizens to convert downtown steam plant from coal to gas
Citizens Energy Group plans to switch the primary power source for its Perry K Steam Plant in downtown Indianapolis from coal to natural gas, the utility announced Wednesday. The conversion will cost about $9 million.
NIPSCO to spend $5B for power-system upgrades
The Merrillville-based utility said it plans to spend $5 billion in the next 10 years on electrical system improvements, including almost $1 billion on environmental upgrades at its coal-fired plants.
SEC filing: Ex-IPL chief Murtlow qualified for large payout
Indianapolis Power & Light chief Ann Murtlow left the utility this spring under terms of a separation agreement that would have entitled her to at least $404,410, according to documents the utility filed Nov. 3 with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Cost of Thanksgiving meal jumps 13 percent on food inflation
The cost of a Thanksgiving dinner in the U.S. will jump 13 percent this year, the biggest gain in two decades, as prices rose for everything from turkey to green peas to milk, the American Farm Bureau Federation said.
Farm-profit volatility boosting risk for lenders, economist says
U.S. farmers face increased financial risk because of higher operating costs and volatile commodity prices, even as income this year reaches a record, said Michael Boehlje, an economist at Purdue University.
Indiana littered with 2,100 leaking underground tanks
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management is tracking about 2,100 sites with leaking tanks, many of which contain gasoline and diesel fuel that can damage soil and contaminate groundwater.
Congress moves to create new farm subsidy
Farm-state lawmakers are moving to create a whole new subsidy that would protect farmers when their revenue drops — an unprecedented program that critics say could pay billions of dollars to farmers now enjoying record-high crop prices.
Indiana plant a drag on Duke Energy earnings
Duke Energy Corp.'s third-quarter earnings tumbled 30 percent, the company said Thursday, with energy consumption falling at the same time that costs rose unexpectedly for a new plant in Indiana.