Braun directs state to revisit coal power plant closures 

Gov. Mike Braun directed his energy and natural resources secretary to revisit settlements that closed or sought to close coal power plants in Indiana.

Settlements identified in a Friday executive order include those that would close a plant before 50 years of service — described as the average age of retirement for electric generation units in Indiana — or where there was no allegation or finding of wrongdoing. 

The secretary should also revisit agreements between plant operators and the federal Environmental Protection Agency, justice department or environmental groups where the State of Indiana was not a party, the order said. 

“These consent decrees and settlement agreements should be re-evaluated in light of the current and future need for energy to power existing demand as well as future economic development in Indiana,” the order stated.

The order noted a projected 7 gigawatts-plus of Indiana coal electricity generation retiring or transitioning to another source across the next 12 years, as well as an assessment from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation determining Indiana may not have the electricity resources to keep pace with upcoming demand.

Braun aligned the need to revisit these closures alongside recent federal backing for coal plants in the state. 

The Trump administration renewed an emergency order to keep two Indiana coal plants open for a third time in June, despite an energy executive calling one of them “inefficient” and “unreliable” and concerns over high costs transferring to consumers.

The generating stations are now set to remain open through Sept. 19. They’d previously been slated for closure in December last year, days after the Trump administration ordered them to keep operating.

Also in June, President Donald Trump announced he’d direct $700 million to refurbishing and building coal power infrastructure, including in Indiana. Indiana’s Merom Generating Station, operated by Hallador Power Co., was among 14 coal plants nationwide to be “saved.”

A previous Braun executive order, issued in April last year to consider extending coal plants’ operations, said that demand for electricity in Indiana “is now increasing significantly due to data center deployments related to the Artificial Intelligence race, reshoring of manufacturing, and greater consumer electrification.” 

His order Friday made mention of no specific plants to be reevaluated but said Suzanne Jaworowski, the state secretary of energy and natural resources, “shall consider” the impact of extending retiring plants’ lifetimes on ratepayers. Braun also ordered agencies to advocate for “affordable, reliable baseload electric generation” in the federal rulemaking process.