JTNWI Statement on LaPorte County and NIPSCO Electric Rate Case Settlement Agreement to Evaluate Converting the Michigan City Coal Plant

Through a settlement with LaPorte County in its recent electric rate case last week, NIPSCO agreed to engage in studies to determine the potential of converting the Michigan City Generating Station (MCGS) and to evaluate other economic development prospects. In response to this news, JTNWI states: 

The agreement reached between the County and NIPSCO uses the drastic and unconscionable 22% electricity rate hike to bypass community-driven redevelopment and divert attention from the necessary remediation that needs to occur on the MCGS lakefront site. We urge the LaPorte County commissioners to engage the community and accept public comments on these studies and issues related to the MCGS site before launching them.

If NIPSCO reneges on its commitment to completely retire the MCGS, it will continue to pollute the region and impede public health and safety. JTNWI is opposed to any decision that furthers the use of fossil fuels. Additionally, such a move will hamper Michigan City's once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to open up the Lake Michigan lakefront and create a true gateway to Indiana Dunes National Park, a significant source of tourism dollars. A recent Applied Economics Clinic Report on behalf of JTNWI illustrates beneficial community and economic examples of site reuse that maintain environmental integrity. 

“As we anticipate some of the largest change points in our city’s history, with both the coal plant and state prison shuttering in the next few years, the fate of our community and our city’s west side hangs in the balance. Millions of tons of toxic coal ash waste sit on the lake at NIPSCO’s Michigan City coal-burning plant behind a failing seawall structure that threatens the drinking water for 10 million people. The Town of Pines is still struggling to seek justice decades after NIPSCO’s actions devastated their town with coal ash pollution. We deserve a just and equitable transition from fossil fuels that ensures the complete closure of the plant in 2028 and a community-led vision and plan for its reuse that promotes public well-being, generates local tax revenue, and guarantees family-sustaining jobs for impacted workers. 

NIPSCO has a responsibility to the people of Michigan City to fully remove and clean up its legacy coal ash to restore the shoreline and eliminate environmental harm. NIPSCO must uphold its commitment to transition to renewable energy while focusing on increasing affordability and reducing energy waste. We encourage the LaPorte County commissioners to avoid making hasty decisions that will only serve to placate utility shareholders and tech profiteers and, instead, to authentically and inclusively engage the broader community in redevelopment plans and studies,” says Ashley Williams, executive director of JTNWI.