The future of a southwest Indiana coal-to-natural gas plant is in the hands of the Indiana Supreme Court.
Rockport coal gasification plant owners Leucadia signed a 30 year contract with the state in 2011. It requires the state to buy gas from Rockport at a predetermined price, rather than using market rates. The state then resells the energy source.
Opponents of the deal, who filed a lawsuit seeking to nullify the contract, say it will drive up Hoosiers’ utility bills. The Court of Appeals struck down the contract because of problems in a 37 word clause. That’s when the legislature weighed in, passing a bill that imposes stricter ratepayer protections if the contract is sent back to the Utility Regulatory Commission.
Senator Doug Eckerty (R-Yorktown), who wrote the bill, says if the Supreme Court upholds the contract entirely, the legislation has no impact.
“It’s not our job to interfere with ongoing court cases or tell the Supreme Court how to do their jobs.”
But if the Court forces the IURC to reexamine the contract, Rockport developers have said the new standards imposed by the legislation will kill the plant. Eckerty says the legislature’s goal was to ensure the contract is in the best interests of ratepayers.
“So we tried to strike a balance that it could live or that it could die but only based a really thorough, complete review all over again.”
Efforts to contact representatives of Rockport owner Leucadia were unsuccessful. The Supreme Court has not announced a hearing date.
