Grass roots groups lead the way to a balanced and sustainable energy policy in Indiana

Citizens rise to the occasion

Grass roots groups lead the way to a balanced and sustainable energy policy in Indiana

Roughly 500 people packed a park facility in New Castle in February 2000 to listen and testify before the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission about the CinCap VII merchant power plant. Proposed for Cadiz, a small town just down the road, the plant, which the Commission ultimately approved, was owned at the time by Cinergy and Duke.

Those in attendance called themselves Concerned Citizens of Henry County. And since that evening in New Castle, similar groups have sprung up in various regions of the state to oppose other merchant plants and highlight the myriad issues that the state should consider before approving additional power plants in Indiana.

The mainstays for these citizen-backed efforts are located in Pike, Delaware, Hamilton, Grant, Henry and Bartholomew counties. Besides producing the movement's leadership, hundreds of citizens in these counties and beyond have linked themselves to the effort via computer, as well. Working together, they helped create and fought for House Bill 1979, which would have created a sound state policy for siting merchant power plants and formed the foundation for a state energy policy in general. (see article page one)

HB 1979 passed the House by a lopsided, bipartisan majority. But it died in the Senate, where the Republican leadership denied it even a hearing. Utility companies, the Indiana Electric Association, and some legislators attacked the bill and the citizens as being NIMBYs - Not In My Backyard types who would oppose any power plant anywhere in the state. But that was far from the truth.

HB 1979, which would have clarified state law with respect to the siting of power plants, was filed by State Rep. Tiny Adams, D-Muncie. It did not prohibit the siting of power plants. Instead, it would have created criteria for the IURC to take under consideration before it could rule on a plant. It also would have vested local officials with the authority to deny a plant that they felt did not comport with their local zoning and planning. The county groups simply saw the necessity of making this type of decision in a public forum with a uniform and logical public process to reach such a decision.

Moreover, leaders and members of these groups testified throughout the session that the state should place greater emphasis on energy efficiency and renewable energy sources. They highlighted the economic and environmental benefits of these options over simply building power plants without first taking alternatives into account.

And the citizen groups aren't alone in their assessment of alternatives to building power plants. Two of the five IURC Commissioners -- Judith Ripley and Camy Swanson-Hull -- have opposed the last five merchant power plant sitings based in part on the same reasoning. Also, the State Utility Forecasting Group, formed to assess the state's electricity needs and located at Purdue University, recently proclaimed energy efficiency as "an economic imperative."

In the final analysis, the electric utilities, a number of power plant developers, and the Indiana Electric Association were, as usual, just being self-serving. They want an energy policy that features very little state oversight over their activities. As is their practice, they will seek to raise their own profit margins at the expense of ratepayers, particularly residential and small commercial ratepayers.

During the course of the session, the local citizen groups gained the respect of many legislators as a force to be reckoned with because of their tenacity and knowledge.

Today, the frustration of these citizen volunteers, many of whom are Republicans, about HB 1979's death at the hands of GOP Senator Tom Weatherwax and friends can be summed up in comments made by Diane Warner from Henry County and Gary Chambers from Bartholomew County.

"It was obvious to me during the final week of the session that they (a majority of Senate Republicans) were looking out for the best interests of the mammoth privately owned utilities and not the citizens of Indiana," Warner said. "I have been a Republican for the last 20 years, and I am disgusted with the tactics of these politicians."

Frustrated over calls from his local paper for someone to step forward and formulate a policy, Chambers said: "The citizens of our state stepped forward months ago to begin the task of formulating a state energy policy. Unfortunately, the people were overpowered by lobbying pressure. The elected officials, who could have made a difference, fell victim to that pressure instead of protecting our state's resources and serving the greater public good."

If Indiana is going to have a balanced and sustainable energy policy, it will be because of people like Diane Warner, Gary Chambers and others who have taken precious time out of their personal lives to protect not only their interests but the broader public interest. They nearly succeeded in getting critical utility legislation passed by the General Assembly in the last session. And in the process, they have become a model of what citizen action can achieve.

With persistence, they will succeed.

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