Author Archives Laura Arnold

Indiana Lt. Gov. Skillman Names Winners of the OED Community Conservation Challenge (CCC) Grants

Posted by Laura Arnold  /   December 21, 2012  /   Posted in Uncategorized  /   No Comments

IndianaDG would like to congratulate all this year’s winners of OED Community Conservation Challenge (CCC) grants and especially Hoosier Interfaith Power and Light in Indianapolis! Please see next blog post for more details.

For Immediate Release: December 13, 2012  

Contact: Tyler Stock, tstock@lg.in.gov, (317) 232-4793 

Indianapolis – Indiana Lt. Governor Becky Skillman today announced the winners of the Community Conservation Challenge (CCC) grants.  Five projects were chosen from nearly 60 applications statewide.

The CCC grant recipients from Bloomington, Evansville, Gary, Linton and Vincennes will share $526,000 in federal grant funding. The CCC program seeks community-wide energy efficiency, renewable energy or alternative fuel vehicle retrofit projects. The program requires applicants to provide a community partner and leverage local dollars for the projects.

“Energy efficiency is paramount for homeowners, businesses and communities,” said Lt. Governor Skillman. “These projects are innovative and creative and they’ll provide tangible energy savings for Hoosiers.”

  • Ozinga Indiana, RMC located in Gary will receive $140,384. The concrete company is converting six diesel ready-mix trucks to converted natural gas (CNG). They’re also partnering with South Shores Clean Cities and the Northwest Indiana Regional Planning Commission to develop a community-wide CNG forum to promote the project.
  • City of Evansville Department of Sustainability will receive $52,921.50 for CNG kits to make nine police vehicles dual-fuel. The city is “strongly considering” converting their entire city vehicle fleet into dualfuel.
  • Hoosier Interfaith Power and Light in Indianapolis will receive $150,000 to install solar panels at six sites in both Bloomington and Indianapolis. The group represents 21 congregations in the Baha’i, Buddhist, Catholic, Evangelical, Jewish, Muslim and Protestant communities. They’re partnering with 25 entities including faith-based organizations, green energy companies and universities.  Six congregations will each receive $25,000 for this project: Congregation of Beth Shalom, Englewood Christian Church, St. Thomas Lutheran, Trinity Episcopal, Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington and Unitarian Universalist Church of Indianapolis
  • Linton-Stockton School Corporation in Linton will receive $150,000 for their school corporation to install a new roof with insulation, chiller upgrade, replace four boilers, re-commission the HVAC system and install a temperature control system at the high school.
  • Bestway Express in Vincennes will receive partial funding of nearly $32,000. The project will retrofit 16 class eight tractors to dual fuel and 32 fuel tanks. They are also installing a public CNG fueling site with future plans of converting their trucks.

###

Lt. Governor Becky Skillman oversees the Office of Community and Rural Affairs, the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, the Office of Energy Development, the Office of Tourism Development, and the State Department of Agriculture.

2013-14 Indiana Senate Utilities Committee Members List Now Available; Is your state senator a member?

Posted by Laura Arnold  /   November 30, 2012  /   Posted in Uncategorized  /   1 Comments

Dear IndianaDG Readers:

Please find below the list of the members of the Indiana Senate Utilities Committee. There a few changes from the make-up of the committee. Sen. Merritt remains the chair. Sen. Kruse becomes the Ranking Member (R.M.) replacing Sen. Leising. Sen. Schneider is no longer on the committee. Sen. Gard retired and therefore is no longer on the committee. There are two newly elected State Senators assigned to the committee and so noted below.

Sen. Breaux replaces Sen. Randolph as the Ranking Minority Member (R.M.M.) Sen. Broden replaces Sen. R. Young.

Again, links to state senators webpages have been added to this list. Please explore and learn about this committee and its members.

Laura Ann Arnold

Indiana Senate Utilities Committee Members:

Senator Jim Merritt (R-Indianapolis), Chair

Senator Dennis Kruse (R-Auburn), R.M.

Senator Rod Bray (R-Martinsville)   newly elected and new to committee        

Senator Mike Crider (R-Hancock Co)    newly elected and new to committee                              

Senator Jean Leising (R-Oldenburg)

Senator Jim Tomes (R-Blairsville)

Senator Carlin Yoder (R-Goshen)

Senator Jean Breaux (D-Indianapolis), R.M.M.

Senator Lonnie Randolph (D-East Chicago)

Senator John Broden (D-South Bend) new to committee

2013-14 Indiana House Utilities and Energy Committee Members Announced; 3 Newly Elected House Members Named

Posted by Laura Arnold  /   November 30, 2012  /   Posted in Uncategorized  /   No Comments

Dear IndianaDG Readers:

Please find below the much awaited information about the House Utilities and Energy Committee of the Indiana House of Representatives. Rumors have been pervasive that Rep. Eric Koch (R-Bedford) would replace Rep. Jack Lutz (R-Anderson). Turns out the rumor was true.

All state legislators are not created equal. What I mean by that is that those state legislators who serve on a particular committee such as Utilities and Energy have substantially more influence and greater voice on proposed legislation assigned to their committees. Therefore, these are the Indiana House members which will have the greatest opportunity to influence proposed legislation pertaining to utilities and energy issues. Clearly, the majority members, i.e. the Republican members of the committee will have a stronger voice and more influence than the minority members, i.e. Democratic members of the committee.

I have provided links to the official web pages of each of these committee members. Please note that not all webpages have been updated yet. I encourage you to learn about these committee members and see if their districts cover where you, your business associates, friends and/or family members reside.

Sen. Jim Merritt (R-Indianapolis) will be the Chair of the Senate Utility Committee, however, a list of the other members has not been posted to the "official"  Indiana General Assembly website. The information is available and I will post later today.

Laura Ann Arnold

Indiana House Utilities and Energy Committee Members

CHAIR: Rep. Eric Koch (R-Bedford)

Vice Chair: Rep. Heath VanNatter (R-Kokomo)

Rep. Bob Behning (R-Indianapolis)

Rep. Dale DeVon (R-Granger) newly elected and new committee member

Rep. David Frizzell (R-Indianapolis)

Rep. Jack Lutz (R-Anderson)

Rep. Alan Morrison (R-Terre Haute) newly elected and new committee member

Rep. Tim Neese (R-Elkhart)

Rep. Ed Soliday (R-Valparaiso)

Rep. Kreg S. Battles (RMM) (D-Vincennes)

Rep. Christina E. Hale (D-Indianapolis) newly elected and new committee member

Rep. Matt Pierce (D-Bloomington)

Rep. Shelli L. VanDenburgh (D-Crown Point) new committee member

Duke Energy Indiana 2013 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) Stakeholder Engagement Workshop Dec. 5, 2012

Posted by Laura Arnold  /   November 30, 2012  /   Posted in Uncategorized  /   No Comments

Dear IndianaDG Readers:

Just when I was hoping things might slow down for the Holidays, energy/utility events and activities seem to be accelerating. Please find below information about Duke Energy Indiana's Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) upcoming "stakeholder engagement process". To get a flavor of what is involved and/or contained in an electric utility's IRP please scroll down to download a copy of Duke's last IRP from 2011.  You can also find a copy of this document on-line at http://www.duke-energy.com/pdfs/2011_Indiana_IRP_Plan.pdf.

Two other things happened yesterday involving  Duke Energy yesterday:

Don't blink or you might miss something!

Laura Ann Arnold

Duke Energy Indiana has established a stakeholder engagement process to inform our 2013 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) in compliance with the proposed Commission IRP rule. Duke Energy Indiana has hired Dr. Marty Rozelle of The Rozelle Group, Ltd. to help design and facilitate the IRP stakeholder engagement process. She is an independent public participation specialist who regularly works with companies, government agencies, and local communities on stakeholder outreach activities.

Objectives

Duke Energy Indiana has four main objectives for this stakeholder engagement process.

  • Listen: Understand our stakeholders' concerns and objectives.
  • Educate: Increase stakeholders' understanding of Duke Energy Indiana's current and future energy situation, challenges, choices, complexity of resource decisions and need for flexibility.
  • Feedback: Provide a forum for productive stakeholder feedback on specific topics at key points in the IRP process to inform Duke Energy Indiana's decision-making.
  • Comply: Comply with the proposed Commission IRP rule.

Advisory process overview

Duke Energy Indiana will seek participants' feedback throughout the IRP development process. At the core of the process is a series of four workshops.

Integrated Resource Plan Overview

Duke Energy Indiana will be filing its 2013 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) for the State of Indiana with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission by November 1, 2013. This plan, a 20-year forecast required by the Commission, outlines how we will serve our existing and future customers in a reliable and economic manner. Duke Energy Indiana uses the resource planning process to identify the best options to serve customers' energy and capacity needs in the future. As reference, the 2011 Duke Energy Indiana's IRP is available for download through the link in Related Links above right.

Download HERE > 2011_Indiana_IRP_Plan_Duke Energy Indiana

Copyright 2013 IndianaDG