NIPSCO Proposes $643 Million Natural Gas Plant Amid Criticism Over Clean Energy Goals and Coal Phase-Out.

Northern Indiana Public Service Co. (NIPSCO) is planning to build a 400-megawatt natural gas-fired power plant, which critics argue is unnecessary and out of step with clean energy goals. The utility has asked the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission for a needed certificate of public convenience and necessity to build the $643 million peaker plant on the site of the retiring R.M. Schahfer coal plant in Jasper County, central Indiana. The company claims it needs the plant to provide power during high demand as it plans to phase out coal by 2028 and transition to renewables. Critics argue that the plant could be converted to run on natural gas blended with hydrogen, a fuel being championed by the U.S. Department of Energy.