Indiana legislators to take another stab at crafting 'Rockport' bill

After they finalize that measure — which could be a tricky and hotly-contested process — it will go into Senate Bill 494, House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said Monday.

The move comes after House leaders decided to let another bill dealing with Rockport die. That happened because they are seeking another regulatory review of the project and determined that changes made to the bill on the chamber’s floor had watered it down to the point of ineffectiveness.

Bosma said he wants negotiations over a final draft of the legislation to start with the much tougher version that passed the House Utility Committee, before those changes took place. Opponents of the Rockport project favored that version, while developers said it would kill the plant.

Essentially, that legislation would require the Indiana Finance Authority’s 30-year contract to buy and then resell the Rockport plant’s synthetic natural gas to go back to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.

The panel would be tasked with making sure the deal guarantees that ratepayers would save money over its life. Developers say the House Utility Committee’s version of the bill would unfairly impose new standards.

“There’s a lot of discussion about what the proper factors for IURC review are; some discussion about whether or not that should be an appealable review or one that would be final,” Bosma said. “We’re trying to meet the goal of the IURC looking at it again to make sure the deal makes sense for ratepayers, but doesn’t unnecessarily put a drag on the deal for years to come.”

Bosma appointed Rep. Suzanne Crouch, the Evansville Republican who had championed the legislation that developers said would kill the project, as his top negotiator on the joint House-Senate conference committee that will hammer out the final draft of SB 494.

House Democrats, meanwhile, appointed Rep. Kreg Battles of Vincennes, who has supported the Rockport project in votes on the House floor.