The Trump administration has renewed an emergency order to keep two aging Indiana coal plants operational through mid-September.
Administration officials argue the orders, renewed last Thursday, are necessary to minimize energy costs and prevent blackouts at peak summer demand — despite two of the units being taken offline for maintenance and objections from an energy executive who called the plant “inefficient” and “unreliable.”
“Taking reliable generation off the grid compromises energy reliability and needlessly raises energy costs for Americans,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement. “During peak summer demand, Midwesterners deserve continued access to affordable, reliable, and secure energy to power and cool their homes.”
Trump admin intervenes for coal plants
The U.S. Department of Energy first issued the orders in December — days before CenterPoint Energy and the Northern Indiana Public Service Company, or NIPSCO, were set to retire the coal-powered F.B. Culley and R.M. Schahfer generating stations in Indiana.
The orders are part of the Trump administration’s efforts to block the “premature retirement” of coal plants across the U.S., which the administration says has saved 17 gigawatts of coal-powered electricity generation in 2025.
The Department of Energy cites an internal report finding power outages could increase by 100 times by 2030 if the country takes reliable power offline to justify its actions using Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act to intervene in regional power markets.
The agency renewed the orders for 90-day periods in March and June. The latest order directs the investor-owned utilities to maintain the Indiana coal-powered units through Sept. 19.
The Department of Energy references long-term and summer reliability assessments from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, which warned projected additions to the electric grid don’t keep pace with demand forecasts.
Load growth in the Midcontinental Independent System Operator, or MISO, “is expected to accelerate in 2027 and beyond, which may lead to increased reliability risk in the future if resource additions cannot keep pace with rising forecast loads,” the Department of Energy reported in a news release.
Utilities warn upkeep is costly
In a February letter urging the administration not to renew the order, CenterPoint Indiana Region President Michael Roeder described the coal-fired Culley plant as an “inefficient and increasingly unreliable asset,” accounting for less than 1% of the region’s installed electric capacity.
The plant produces 103 megawatts of electricity in Warrick County.
The following month, NIPSCO and CenterPoint executives told the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission that the fuel, chemicals, staffing and upgrades needed to keep the units operational are costly.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission authorized MISO to adopt tariffs so NIPSCO and CenterPoint can recover those costs.
An analysis from the Sierra Club, which filed a lawsuit challenging the emergency orders, estimates it could cost consumers a net of $174,000 a day to keep NIPSCO’s Schahfer plant online, while CenterPoint’s Culley plant could cost consumers $21,000 a day.
“It’s unbelievable that even with the Schahfer units being broken, and Culley’s owner calling out what a terrible decision this is, the Trump Administration still insists on doubling-down on coal to keep lining the pockets of billion dollar fossil fuel companies,” Robyn Skuya-Boss, Indiana director of the Sierra Club, said in a statement last week.
“Meanwhile, Hoosiers and Americans are strapped with higher utility bills, higher gas prices, and a higher cost of living altogether. Intervention is long overdue. Gov. Braun and Attorney General (Todd) Rokita can step in immediately on behalf of Hoosiers struggling to afford their utility bill and block these costs from continuing to fall on them.”
Spokespersons for both utilities told the Indiana Capital Chronicle on Monday they remain in compliance with the orders.
NIPSCO has since taken two units at the Schahfer generation station, located in Jasper County, offline for inspections and maintenance.
“Units 17 and 18 are currently offline while inspections, maintenance and repair work continue, including significant turbine and boiler work,” a NIPSCO statement said. “As this process continues, NIPSCO remains focused on operating safely and providing reliable energy to its customers and the MISO Northern and Central Zones in compliance with the 202(c) order.”
Noah Stubbs, media relations for CenterPoint, said “at this time, there is no direct bill impacts to CenterPoint customers, but we remain committed to keeping customer affordability top-of-mind as we plan for recovery of costs associated with operating the unit.
“We will continue to work collaboratively with federal, state and local stakeholders and remain focused on delivering reliable electric service to our southwestern Indiana customers and their families.”
Indiana Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com.
