Indiana’s Utility Regulatory Commission will take an extended look at reasons Duke Energy’s $3.5 billion Edwardsport coal-gasification plant burned through more power than it generated during several months last year.
The commission decided Wednesday to open a subdocket in a regulatory proceeding as a way to examine instances of negative generation — times when the Edwardsport plant consumed more energy than it produced. The move is a response to a March request from the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor.
That office questioned whether Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke can charge consumers to recover fuel expenses for negative generation periods. It filed testimony that the plant went through periods of negative generation from September to November with a total cost of approximately $1.5 million.
Rebuttal testimony from a Duke official argued that some of the negative generation hours came when the plant was actually online and in startup mode. The testimony also said the fuel that plants use during maintenance outages has historically been recovered from customers.
The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission issued an order finding the evidence on record does not currently support keeping the fuel costs in question from being recovered.
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