Manufacturing News
July 30, 2026
July 30, 2026 · Statewide · Story 2 of 3
Braun Orders Indiana Coal Plant Review as MISO Costs Already Run
Governor Braun directed Indiana's Secretary of Energy and Natural Resources to identify opportunities to reopen retired coal plants or delay retirement of existing units, citing AI data center load growth. Keep two legal frameworks separate: the federal DOE Section 202(c) emergency orders currently keeping Schahfer and Culley online rest on a reliability-emergency rationale, while the state Indiana coal plant review rests on projected load growth.
The reliability argument runs into MISO's own data. Schahfer Units 17 and 18 ran at a 17% capacity factor in Q1 2026, below their pre-retirement average of 24%, and both were projected unavailable for the entirety of the next 90-day emergency order period due to repairs. MISO approved Culley Unit 2's retirement. NERC rated MISO's 2026 energy risk as normal.
The cost mechanism is running regardless of how the review lands. Sierra Club's tracker puts Schahfer's emergency-order compliance at roughly $174,000 per day in net consumer costs, costs FERC has approved passing through to ratepayers across all 11 MISO-footprint states. Separately, Earthjustice's federal appeals challenge to DOE's Section 202(c) authority could invalidate the federal mechanism before the Secretary's state review is finished.
- For the huddle
How much additional electricity cost could the Indiana coal plant review put on my bill?
No number is set yet, but the existing federal emergency orders already run about $174,000 per day at Schahfer, spread across MISO ratepayers in 11 states. Model your annual electricity spend against a further life-extension order now, before the Secretary's review produces a recommendation.
From the brief, July 30, 2026
- CS PowerTech Opens First U.S. HJT Cell Plant at River Ridge
- Braun Orders Indiana Coal Plant Review as MISO Costs Already Run
- Purdue-GeChi Silicon Carbide MOU Opens an 18-Month Supplier Window
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- Nucor's $105M Crawfordsville Expansion, Ozinga's East Chicago Cement Mill, and a Fatal Accident at Burns Harbor: What Indiana Manufacturers Need to Know
- Nucor's $105 Million Crawfordsville Expansion, SEL's $25 Million West Lafayette Bet, and Indiana's Industrial Property Tax Increase for 2027
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