natural gas

U.S. Sen. Mike Braun asked the state’s powerful utility regulator to reject a coal plant’s proposed conversion to natural gas.

The natural gas itself tends to be more expensive and economically volatile.

Several Indiana utilities are adding natural gas plants as backup energy sources, but activists say they're unnecessary.

Power outages disrupted operations at the Whiting Refinery causing unplanned gas flaring.

Indiana utilities and other supporters have said it helps avoid “rate shock” by easing the cost of those plants into customers’ bills over a longer period of time.

HB 1421 would allow utilities to recover the cost of natural gas plants as they’re being built — easing those costs into customers’ bills over a longer period of time.

The Petersburg plant currently employs about 300 people and is one of the largest taxpayers in Pike County. It also emits the third most greenhouse gases of any facility in the state.

Natural gas prices are up right now because of increased demand due to the war in Ukraine and less production. There’s also less natural gas in storage than usual because of the need for heat this January.

The company also wants to build a new natural gas peaker plant to replace its two aging peakers at the R.M. Schahfer Generating Station in Wheatfield.