Regulators clear Duke Energy to close Indiana coal units

Welcome to Power Weekend, catching up on stuff we?ve learned since Friday.

Indiana regulators have approved Duke Energy? ? Duke Energy Latest from The Business Journals Progress Energy and Duke Energy plan new merger filing this monthCharlotte Motor Speedway to get 500-kw solar projectDuke Energy dials up its giving with United Way boost Follow this company Indiana?s plan to close two units at a coal plant built in the 1960s.

The move will take 300 megawatts of capacity out of Duke?s system and is expected to reduce air pollution in nearby Louisville, Ky.

The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission also approved the utility?s plan to buy 62.5% of the Vermilion natural gas-fired plant in Indiana for $68 million. The purchase adds 400 megawatts of capacity to Duke?s Indiana subsidiary.

The closing of two units at the 600-megawatt Gallagher plant is seen as the end of a long battle over pollution between Duke on one side and the federal government and local officials on the other, according to The Courier-Journal in Louisville.

The paper reports:

The bottom line for Louisville and Southern Indiana residents: They should breathe cleaner air soon. Duke must shut down units by Feb. 1, thereby halving emissions pumped from the twin smokestacks along the Ohio River.

?This was a long time coming and we are glad to see it,? said Thomas Nord, spokesman for the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District.

A spokesman for Duke told the paper that no layoffs were expected among the 100 workers at the plant, which will continue operating two units.

Piedmont cutting natural gas rates in Tennessee

Following reduction for natural gas rates in the Carolinas, Piedmont Natural Gas? ? Piedmont Natural Gas Latest from The Business Journals Progress Energy CEO to discuss Duke merger at forumProgress Energy CEO to discuss Duke merger at forumPiedmont Natural Gas profits fall 20% in 2011 Follow this company has filed with Tennessee regulators to cut charges there as well.

The reductions come because of the continued drop in the charges Piedmont pays for the natural gas. Those savings are routinely passed through to customers. The filing, made with the Tennessee Regulatory Authority just before Christmas, marks the seventh time Piedmont has reduced charges in Tennessee since 2008.

John Downey covers utilities, public companies and the courts for the Charlotte Business Journal.

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