$43 million in property taxes expected from New Carlisle gas-fired power plant

Project investors joined local and state officials to cut the ribbon on the St. Joseph Energy Center, a 700-megawatt plant that will generate enough electricity for 500,000 households.

Several hundred construction workers built the plant, located near the intersection of Edison and Walnut roads in Olive Township. It has created 21 full-time jobs and is expected to generate tens of millions of dollars in property taxes over its 30-year lifespan.

Natural gas is delivered to the plant through an underground pipeline, and its turbines generate electricity with steam created from compressed air and burned natural gas.

Indiana Secretary of Commerce Jim Schellinger said the plant is “critical to the future of Indiana” and referred to how its electricity is being sold across a 13-state power grid.

“We cannot possibly overstate the importance of energy in the world today,” he said.