Hoosiers living near an operating or recently closed power plant fueled by coal or natural gas will have little say if the utility company someday decides to install nuclear reactors at the same site to generate electricity.
Senate Enrolled Act 425, set to be enacted into law next month by Republican Gov. Mike Braun, eliminates the need for any local permit, land use or zoning approval to construct a new energy generation facility in an existing "energy production zone."
The measure defines an energy production zone as a tract of land where an operational or nonoperational power plant capable of generating at least 80 megawatts of electricity, or an abandoned mine, was located on Jan. 1, 2025.
In Northwest Indiana, that includes the Michigan City Generating Station, the Bailly Generating Station in Chesterton, and the Schahfer Generating Station in Wheatfield.
According to the legislation, if the owner of any of those sites wants to install a small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) there, or even a conventional nuclear reactor, no local approval would be needed, so long as the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission signs off on the project.
The plan requires a variety of notices be provided to local officials and community members, along with a single public hearing, but the addition of or conversion to nuclear power cannot be stopped by local authorities once the utility receives approval from the state.
State Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, the sponsor of the proposal, said land that's already being used for electricity generation shouldn't be subject to the hassles of re-approval by local government officials if all that's changing is the method of generating electricity at the site.
"If there is a coal-fired plant on a piece of property and the utility wishes to replace that with, let's say, natural gas or a small modular reactor, or whatever, then they do not have to go through a rezoning process," Soliday said.
On the other hand, state Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, insisted nuclear energy is different, and new to Indiana, so Hoosiers should not be silenced when it comes to deciding whether a nuclear power plant will be located near their homes or businesses.
"In this bill, if you want to place a small modular reactor, which uses radioactive fuel and will generate radioactive waste — which then will likely have to be stored on-site because we have no federal repository yet for that waste — that can be placed into an existing energy generation facility with no local say whatsoever," Pierce said.
Notably, local zoning and permitting requirements remain in effect for the siting of solar and wind energy generating equipment under the legislation — a fact that struck Pierce as odd as the measure was debated in the Indiana House.
"That just doesn't seem to add up to me. And it's not consistent with the rhetoric that we hear on this floor all the time about how we are an 'all of the above' energy state. We're excluding certain forms of energy, and it seems to me the type of energy that might really demand some local input about where it might be sited is now going to be taken off the table," Pierce said.
The measure additionally limits the ability of county planning officials and county commissioners to indefinitely delay controversial building projects by repeatedly bouncing a proposal between the two bodies for various approvals, revisions and re-approvals.
"We are in a time of rapid development in Indiana up where I live. Many new folks moving in from Illinois. And we need to be able to have some certainty for business that it's yes-or-no, so we can move on with building," Soliday said. "Basically it is saying to local government: Make a decision, and no is OK, but do it in a timely way so developers can move on."
The measure received the minimum 51 votes needed to pass the Republican-controlled House after Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers, broke his custom of nonparticipation and added a final "aye" to the tally. It also was approved 31-19 by the Republican-controlled Senate.
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