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Two Indiana electric utilities ask to raise rates for coal ash cleanups, others could follow

The northern Indiana utility NIPSCO wants to raise rates to clean up coal ash ponds at its Michigan City coal plant. Other utilities in the state may be following suit.

Activists say NIPSCO's customers shouldn’t have to pay for what they call an “incomplete” cleanup. Though NIPSCO is removing coal ash from its ponds near the plant, it doesn’t plan to clean up coal ash used as fill on the site.

Susan Thomas is the director of legislation and policy with Just Transition NWI.

“Clean it up entirely. Otherwise Michigan City is going to be left with a toxic brownfield to contend with down the line," Thomas said.

Just Transition NWI is also concerned that contamination from the ponds is already leaking into Lake Michigan and nearby Trail Creek. NIPSCO said it believes the coal ash ponds themselves are causing the majority of the problems and the company is actively working to remove those ponds.

To pay for that effort, NIPSCO wants to increase residents' bills by about 30 cents a month.

Nick Meyer is vice president of communications for NIPSCO's parent company, NiSource. He said the company would spread out that cost over nearly a decade to make the increase more manageable for customers.