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Monday, May 02, 2011

Ind. Gov't. - "Controversial utility bill heads to governor"

The ILB has been written about this provision in SB 251 several times, referencing it as CWIP (construction work in progress), but this is the first time I've seen notice in the press. From Chris O'Malley of the IBJ's report today:

A bill that opponents described as a “Christmas tree wish list” for electric utilities is on its way to Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels for signing.

Senate Bill 251 allows utilities to quickly pass to ratepayers the cost of so-called clean-energy projects, including nuclear power plants and solar and wind power, during the construction phase rather than after the facility is operating. The bill passed the Indiana House 62-34 and the Senate 31-19.

Such a move shifts risks of design, construction and operating away from utility shareholders and on to utility ratepayers “while monopoly utility companies walk away with all the profit,” said Kerwin Olson, program director of utility watchdog group Citizens Action Coalition.

The Indiana Energy Association, which represents electric utilities, has noted that utilities face additional federal pollution-control regulations and need the flexibility to quickly make expensive capital investments to comply with them.

Currently, only so-called clean-coal projects, such as Duke Energy Corp.’s coal-gasification plant in Edwardsport, can tap ratepayers during construction.

ILB: This is also the bill that now includes the CO2 pipeline emminent domain provisions. Here is a list of earlier ILB entries on SB 251. See particularly the very end of this one from April 22, 2011.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on May 2, 2011 12:30 PM
Posted to Indiana Government