Indianapolis Business Journal publishes an article on the future of Indiana's electricity grid written by United's Trish Demeter and Ed Burgess from Strategen.
Much has changed since Indiana’s electric utilities last issued their plans to power Hoosier homes and businesses—fossil fuel prices, supply chains, federal policies, geopolitics and technologies, to name just a few.
These changes have opened new opportunities to offer customers lower energy prices and cleaner air. But if Indiana utilities move ahead with their current proposals that ignore these rapidly evolving market conditions, they will waste their customers’ money on 20th century strategies and technologies. Don’t Hoosiers deserve better options for an affordable, reliable and modern grid?
Four of the state’s largest electric utilities—CenterPoint, Duke Energy Indiana, Indiana Michigan Power and Northern Indiana Public Service Co.—have proposed replacing coal-fi red powerplants with natural-gas-fueled plants. It’s like upgrading from a1995 Toyota Corolla to a 2005 Toyota Corolla when, for the same price or less, you could have a Ford Mustang Mach-e. It would be irresponsible for these utilities to not reconsider their plans before breaking ground on new projects when changing market conditions make potentially cost-saving and innovative solutions available.