The future of coal-powered utility plants is getting lots of political attention. (Getty Images)
Every so often, the “beat” I cover treats me to a trip down memory lane to the time when I was a public servant. I was a much younger man when I left the government to become a consultant in 2002. And though the details surrounding my old stomping grounds are different, the regulatory compact remains unchanged.
On Oct. 10, U.S. Sen. Mike Braun sent a letter to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission expressing his concern about AES Indiana’s petition to transition its two remaining coal-fired generating units to natural gas. It’s the kind of letter I used to receive every week as the executive director of the agency, although this one is a bit more awkward than usual.
I could numb Hoosier brains with all the ways the IURC works, but I won’t. The important thing to know about the agency is that it is in the bad news business. It regulates utility rates. That’s right, when rates go up, the commission is responsible. Luckily, it also approves all of the times rates go down, but I’m having a hard time remembering when that ever happened.
The agency exists and is organized the way it is so that politicians like governors and senators don’t have to take the heat. Trust me, I spent several years giving ratepayers bad utility news, and the elected officials in the Statehouse back then appreciated my work. They would beat me up in public over my insensitive quips to their constituents, then afterward, they would whisper in my ear, “thank you.”
So, when elected officials begin staking out positions on what will ultimately be the decision of the appointed utility commissioners, pay attention. It’s dangerous political territory.
Legislative action?
Leslie Bonilla Mũniz wrote how “Braun weighs in on utility’s coal plant conversion ask” for the Indiana Capital Chronicle last week. Is an entire article necessary to explain an ambitious politician’s letter to some sleepy state agency? Actually, it’s worthy of two.
Mũniz covered other ambitious political fodder just a few days earlier. She reported some posturing by state Sen. Chris Garten, who had requested an opinion from Attorney General Todd Rokita about whether the IURC could deny such plant retirements. It is important to note that the AES Indiana plan is not a “retirement” of a plant, but a conversion of the fuel source the plant will use. Nevertheless, Rokita confirmed the IURC’s authority to deny the plan.
For those of us who have served in the regulatory world, Rokita’s opinion is not news. What absolutely is news is the attempted political influence into the decision-making of the quasi-judicial agency. As Mũniz reported, the opinion was actually released by Reliable Energy, a group led by former state senator Jon Ford.
Reliable Energy advocates for coal. And there it is.
Braun, Garten and Rokita are advocating for the coal industry, not Indiana. Their commentary is disguised as a concern for rates in some cases, reliability in others, but that’s just the cover story. They are fighting the inevitable move away from the burning of coal for electric generation.
Why? That’s the question Hoosiers should be asking.
Yes, the shift away from coal is directly related to Indiana’s descent from one of the cheapest states for electric power in the U.S. to one in the middle of the pack. But the high-sulfur coal that comes from the Illinois Basin is even dirtier than other dirty coal. And importantly, it’s not cheap anymore.
Coal’s story is no longer a good one. It is the primary reason for the creative “all of the above” energy approach that Braun touts in his letter. That’s coded language that means, “keep buying dirty and expensive coal from my friends.” It’s also a political position that irrationally clings to the past, even while knowing that coal’s “glory days” are gone forever.
Politico did an efficient breakdown of the struggle with this inevitability in March. However, one thing it left out was that elected officials should stay out of the rates game, because that game always ends with bad news for voters.
Both Braun’s and Rokita’s letters were submitted a week after Duke Energy announced its plan to extend its coal-based generating past its prior plan of ending its use of coal by 2035. Talk about awkward. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company announced its extension plan to use the dirtiest, most environmentally detrimental fuel source in its portfolio, while Hurricane Helene was actively ravaging its home turf.
I wonder if Braun, Rokita and Garten would send the same letters if French Lick had been creamed earlier this month like Asheville was.
The bad news business is an unforgiving one. It’s usually best to leave it to the pros.
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