NIPSCO updates future energy plans in Indiana

As part of Indiana’s 2021 Integrated Resource Plan public advisory process, Northern Indiana Public Service Co. LLC (NIPSCO), the state’s largest natural gas distribution company and its second-largest electric company, on Oct. 21 released updated plans for its electric generation portfolio.

“We’re on an industry-leading path to shift toward lower-cost and reliable forms of energy for our customers,” said NIPSCO President Mike Hooper. “As we continue this journey, we recognize the importance of maintaining a diverse energy portfolio that enables flexibility to adapt to evolving market rules, policy and technology advancements, while providing additional time for continued research and refinement of our long-term energy strategy.”

NIPSCO, a subsidiary of NiSource Inc. that serves roughly 850,000 natural gas and 480,000 electric customers across 32 Indiana counties, outlined its long-term electric generation plans during a public meeting held Thursday with customers, consumer representatives, environmental organizations, regulators, and other stakeholders participating in the company’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP).

An IRP is a regulatory process used in Indiana and other states to evaluate and outline how electric utilities plan to serve customers’ future energy needs.

During the public meeting, NIPSCO highlighted numerous scenarios the company considered as part of its analysis for the IRP, such as a request for proposals solicitation that provided data on a variety of technologies, the company said in a statement.

At the same time, Hooper said that “careful consideration for how this transition affects our workforce and local communities is a critical focus area as the plan continues to move forward.”

Specifically, NIPSCO’s Preferred Energy Resource Plan updates the timeline to retire the Michigan City Generating Station to occur between 2026 and 2028, and calls for replacing the retiring units with a diverse portfolio of resources, including Demand Side Management resources, incremental solar, stand-alone energy storage, and upgrades to existing facilities at the Sugar Creek Generating Station, among others.

NIPSCO also will replace existing, old gas peaking units at the R.M. Schahfer Generating Station with a natural gas peaking unit that will support system reliability and resiliency, according to the company’s plan, which also includes transmission system upgrades to bolster its electric generation transition.

The remaining coal units at the R.M. Schahfer Generating Station are on track to retire by 2023 as previously announced, NIPSCO said.

The company also said that “consistent with previous analyses, early retirement of coal units is still cost effective for customers and NIPSCO has refined the retirement timing of Michigan City Generating Station unit 12 to occur between 2026 and 2028.”

A number of transmission upgrades will be completed in advance of the retirement of the Michigan City Generating Station and work on those projects will begin in 2022, according to the company’s plan.

Additionally, NIPSCO will continue incorporating wind, solar and solar plus storage replacement resources for the scheduled 2023 retirement of the Schahfer coal generation, and said it may pursue potential hydrogen pilots and other emerging storage technologies as potential pathways toward further decarbonization of its generation portfolio.

Importantly, said NIPSCO officials, the plan does not alter the company’s previously stated goal of a 90 percent reduction in carbon emissions from a 2005 baseline by 2030.

NIPSCO officials stressed the importance of stakeholder feedback in the IRP process during the public meeting and said it plans to continue working with stakeholders and regulators to solicit input as the company finalizes the plans prior to submitting them to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission by Nov. 15.