U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan, D-Highland, is taking action against the U.S. Department of Energy’s order to keep power plants open past their planned retirement.
“Northwest Indiana residents are struggling to make ends meet, and a major part of that burden is the cost of heating and cooling their homes,” Mrvan said in a news release. “Consumers deserve transparency about what is driving their utility costs and what can be done to lower them.”
Mrvan, on Friday, introduced the Utility and Transparency Act, which aims to prevent federal taxpayers and utility consumers from paying costs for reopening or preventing the closure “of outdated or expensive power-generating facilities.”
The action comes less than two weeks after DOE Secretary Chris Wright renewed an emergency order to keep NIPSCO’s R.M. Schahfer Generating Station in operation. Mrvan has been vocal in his opposition to the emergency order and its impact on NIPSCO ratepayers in Northwest Indiana, including focusing the issue in a recent campaign commercial.
“Hardworking families should not be forced to pay higher utility rates because the federal government is requiring energy companies to reopen or keep outdated coal-fired generating units operating beyond their planned retirement,” Mrvan said in his news release. “When the government intervenes in private-sector business decisions and forces companies to operate facilities that are no longer economically viable, those costs ultimately get passed on to consumers.”
The legislation would also prohibit the DOE from issuing emergency orders to delay power plants’ retirement or require electric generation from already closed facilities. If passed, the legislation would also require electric utilities to give customers information on monthly bills about additional costs coming from a federal emergency order.
“The Utility Affordability and Transparency Act will ensure that the federal government cannot simply prevent or delay the retirement of expensive power plants without accountability for the costs imposed on consumers,” Mrvan said. “Families deserve to know when government policies are increasing their utility bills, why those costs are being imposed, and what alternatives exist to lower them.”
In a statement, a NIPSCO representative said the company is reviewing Mrvan’s legislation and doesn’t have specific comments on it.
“NIPSCO continues to comply with the U.S. Department of Energy’s 202(c) order regarding the R.M. Schahfer Generating Station and remains focused on operating safely, supporting reliability and affordability and serving customers in compliance with all applicable federal and state requirements,” the statement said.
According to Post-Tribune archives, Wright renewed the emergency order for the third time for both Schahfer and CenterPoint Energy’s F.B. Culley Generating Station in Newburgh. Both plants were scheduled to retire at the end of 2025.
NIPSCO plans to convert Schahfer into a natural gas plant to help provide energy for data centers, including Hobart’s $15 billion Amazon Web Services development.
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According to Post-Tribune archives, an Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission meeting earlier this year revealed Schahfer’s coal units 17 and 18 are broken. NIPSCO, in a previous statement, said the units are offline while inspections, maintenance and repair work continue.
The latest order will end Dec. 18, according to a previous DOE news release, saying the plants are needed to maintain energy reliability.
“Forcing reliable, dispatchable coal generation off the grid would compromise energy reliability and needlessly raises energy costs for Americans,” Wright previously said. “Midwestern families should not be forced to pay the price for misguided energy subtraction policies of the past. They deserve affordable, reliable, and secure energy, regardless of the wind blowing or the sun shining.”
Kerwin Olson, executive director of the Citizens Action Coalition, said in a statement that he applauds Mrvan for his work to protect ratepayers. Olson said he believes the emergency orders are illegal and a poor policy decision from President Donald Trump’s administration.
“Struggling ratepayers have far better things to do with their money other than being forced to subsidize a dying industry,” Olson said. “There is a better path forward that is cleaner, much cheaper, and will save ratepayers money in the long run.”
The CAC is part of a coalition of public interest groups protesting NIPSCO’s attempt to recover more than $100 million in costs the utility claims it sustained under the federal order that kept Schahfer’s coal-fired units open through the first half of the year.