Page 12 - Kerwin Olson News Today

A bill expected this session could require utilities to produce more of their own energy. Critics worry it also could keep fossil fuels around longer.

A bill expected this session could require utilities to produce more of their own energy. Critics worry it also could keep fossil fuels around longer.

Several major companies and cities around Indiana are calling on their utilities to create a new program to make it easier to go green.

Indiana customers see a concerning trend this year of rising electricity bills. Consumer advocates say the states reliance on fossil fuels isnt helping.

CenterPoint Energy South petitioned the state for a rate increase following the closure of a coal-fired plant in a move consumer advocates oppose.

When Kerwin Olson is worried, Hoosier utility consumers should be as well.

Advocates say utilities new rates put solar out of reach for customers. But utilities say it protects all customers.

For years, environmentalists and public officials have urged AES Indiana to stop burning coal at its largest and dirtiest power plant. Now, it appears that the Indianapolis-based utility is getting ready to do just that.

Indianapolis Power & Light Co. (IPL) plans to repower the last coal-fired unit at its Harding Street Generation Station (HSS) from coal to natural gas. The repowering would end the burning of coal at HSS by 2016 and make natural gas the utility's most-used fuel for power generation.

In April, oil historian Daniel Yergin told Bloomberg the current energy crisis facing the nation is “potentially worse” than the troubled 1970s. There are similarities between then and now.