The Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana and Just Transition Northwest Indiana are part of a coalition of public interest groups protesting NIPSCO’s attempt to recover $38 million in costs the utility claims it sustained under a federal order requiring it to keep open coal-fired units at R.M. Schahfer Generating Station, which were scheduled to retire at the end of 2025, according to a Wednesday filing.
Other parties involved include the Sierra Club, Environmental Law and Policy Center, Citizens Utility Board of Wisconsin and Public Citizen.
NIPSCO filed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission case on Aug. 4, saying the costs represent how much was required to comply with a U.S. Department of Energy order from Jan. 1 to March 31. The DOE has subsequently issued two additional orders, through Oct. 31.
The $38 million would come from customers in Indiana and 14 other states covered by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, according to Post-Tribune archives. In its filing, NIPSCO said it earned $33.5 million in sales revenue of coal-generated electricity during the first three months of 2026.
NIPSCO included $2.8 million in profits as part of the overall total.
The protest by JTNWI, CAC and other groups says NIPSCO’s filing should be rejected for multiple reasons, including a lack of detail and supporting documentation necessary to determine whether the costs are necessary.
“NIPSCO has not adequately explained why all of its categories of claimed costs are appropriate for recovery in this proceeding, including why any of its repair costs were prudent, or why they should be recovered when the Units are not used and useful,” the protest stated. “Nor has NIPSCO justified recovery of carrying costs, justified its decision to recover based on fuel burned rather than fuel purchased, adequately justified recovery depreciation costs, or justified why its proposed return on equity (“ROE”) accurately reflects the risk that NIPSCO faces.”
In August, Citizens Action Coalition Program Director Ben Inskeep said the consumer advocacy group was “very concerned” about the FERC case, particularly because of the $38 million, $30 million is repair costs.
“Those two units are not operating and haven’t generated any electricity since late February, but consumers are being asked to pay for repairing them,” he said.
“It’s throwing good money after old, dilapidated resources.”
Unit 17 has been in a planned maintenance outage since March 1 of this year, according to the filing, while Unit 18 has been in forced outage since July 9 due to the failure of the unit’s low-pressure rotator blade. NIPSCO has been working on repairs with an expectation of putting it into service by mid-December, while Unit 17 is expected to go back online in October.
Ashley Williams, Executive Director of JTNWI, pointed to a recent report the group commissioned with Carnegie Mellon University that estimated Schahfer’s pollution contributes to $126 million in health damages annually.
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“Just Transition Northwest Indiana (JTNWI) proudly serves Jasper County and the communities that have long lived in the shadow of NIPSCO’s pollution. We’re intervening because we are tired of NIPSCO’s runaway monopoly greed,” Williams said in a Wednesday statement. “Forcing Hoosiers and Midwesterners to subsidize the resuscitation of a dying coal plant, largely to serve AI data centers, is indicative of NIPSCO’s new climate-villainous brand under Blackstone, doubling down on fossil fuels while bleeding ratepayers dry.
“We’re fighting to win. We call on every state to join us in standing against this reckless bid to keep Schahfer online and force NIPSCO to finally pay for its own failures and insatiable pursuit of AI. We hope that NIPSCO faces the fury of all 11 MISO states impacted by the utility’s request, because this is no longer just Indiana’s fight; it’s everyone’s wallets and futures on the line.”
NIPSCO did not respond to a request for comment on the protest by press time. In a previous statement, a company spokesperson said FERC has established a process that allows utilities to recover costs to comply with these federal orders, subject to FERC review and approval.
“We recognize that customers are focused on their energy bills and understand the importance of keeping energy affordable,” the statement read.
“As this process moves forward, NIPSCO remains committed to managing costs responsibly to comply with this order, while providing safe, reliable service for our customers and supporting electric reliability across the region.”
NIPSCO said FERC should reject any argument that its fixed costs associated with the impacted Schahfer units are already being recovered through retail rates approved by the IURC in its 2025 rate case, which included a $70 million reduction associated with operations and fuel at Schahfer, according to Post-Tribune archives. NIPSCO anticipates that the DOE orders could continue through late 2028 or early 2029.
Post-Tribune archives contributed.