News and Music Discovery
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Evansville Energy Company Transition Adds Natural Gas and Solar, Phases Out Most Coal

Vectren, via WKYU

The Evansville energy company that serves 145,000 customers in southwestern Indiana has released a transition plan that phases out most coal-fired power and replaces it with natural gas and solar.

Vectren says its plan will reduce carbon emissions by 60 percent by retiring three coal-fired plants and retrofitting one remaining coal unit so it's in compliance with Environmental Protection Agency regulations.

Vectren says its ‘Smart Energy Future’ strategy includes creating one of the largest solar farms in the region with 150,000 panels on 300 acres. The $70 million solar project is expected to generate energy in about two years. It will complement two smaller solar projects being built this year.

A major part of what Vectren describes as a cleaner, well-balanced and reliable energy mix includes a new $900 million natural gas plant that will begin operating in 2023. It will create 600 jobs during construction and 35 full-time jobs when it goes online. The natural gas facility has to be approved by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.

Vectren is also exploring options related to closing coal ash ponds, which contain waste from the coal-fired plants. Action on the coal ash ponds is triggered by EPA mandates. Vectren is examining possibilities for recycling the material. Some of that material is currently being shipped by barge to a cement manufacturing facility in Missouri. 

© 2018 WKU Public Radio

Rhonda Miller began as reporter and host for All Things Considered on WKU Public Radio in 2015. She has worked as Gulf Coast reporter for Mississippi Public Broadcasting, where she won Associated Press, Edward R. Murrow and Green Eyeshade awards for stories on dead sea turtles, health and legal issues arising from the 2010 BP oil spill and homeless veterans.
Related Content