State regulators scold Citizens, approve smaller water rate hike
Citizens Energy Group has won state approval to raise water rates for Indianapolis customers, but not before being taken to task for excessive executive compensation.
Citizens Energy Group has won state approval to raise water rates for Indianapolis customers, but not before being taken to task for excessive executive compensation.
Environmental and citizens' groups are asking Indiana regulators to launch a formal investigation into problems and delays that have sharply limited the power output of Duke Energy's $3.5 billion coal-gasification plant.
The Republican-controlled U.S. House moved Thursday to block President Barack Obama's plan to limit carbon emissions from new power plants, an election-year strike at the White House aimed at portraying Obama as a job killer.
Mechanical problems caused Duke Energy Indiana’s $3.5 billion power plant in Edwardsport to generate a mere 4 percent of its maximum capacity in January.
The bill's author, Sen. Jim Merritt, R-Indianapolis, said he's going to take the next few days to review the House's changes before determining whether to ask the Senate to approve it or send the bill to a conference committee to restore its original wording.
A state senator has killed legislation that would bar Indiana environmental regulators from creating standards harsher than federal rules.
The Obama administration is squaring off at the Supreme Court with industry groups and Republican-led states, including Indiana, over a small but important program aimed at limiting power-plant and factory emissions of gases blamed for global warming.
The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission openings generated heavy interest. Gov. Mike Pence added a second round of interviews in order to hear from 21 candidates.
The Merrillville-based utility estimates rates for its 457,000 electricity customers will rise 0.5 percent in 2015 and then about 1 percent per year through 2020 under the plan approved by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.
Sen. Jim Merritt said the existing energy-efficiency program is unfair to industries because many of them are already paying for sophisticated in-house programs focused on cutting energy use and pursuing other efficiencies.
The Indiana Supreme Court has publicly reprimanded a former regulatory attorney for negotiating a job for himself with Duke Energy Corp. while presiding over a case involving a Duke project.
Duke Energy Indiana is taking proposals for solar power projects called for under a settlement the utility reached last year with consumer groups.
The measure would allow industries that are Indiana's biggest energy users to pull out of the Energizing Indiana program, which provides energy-efficiency assessments and tips for saving energy and lowering utility bills.
Indiana regulators would be barred from adopting environmental rules tougher than federal standards under a bill that's advancing in the General Assembly that has drawn criticism that it would hamper efforts to protect the state's environment and public health.
Twenty-one candidates are in the running to fill two openings on the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.
The Sierra Club and Valley Watch want an administrative law judge to strike down the Department of Environmental Management's December decision to extend Indiana Gasification's permit until June 27.
Crawfordsville will pay $96,000 in environmental fines because a city-owned wastewater treatment plant was putting too much copper into a creek, according to a federal court filing in Indianapolis.
The report by the State Utility Forecasting Group projects that Indiana's electricity rates will increase by 32 percent from 2013 to 2023, driven upward by new federal pollution restrictions and other factors.
Eric Dannenmaier of the Indiana University Robert McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis will join a federal committee that promotes enforcement of evironmental laws.
‘Fracking’ has made natural gas cheap and abundant, but prices could rise with demand, costing consumers.