Eco Report – October 18, 2024

In this edition, Robert Shull interviews Charlie Laughlin who runs Commercial Services for Heating and Cooling, discussing the advantages and disadvantages of geo-thermal heat pumps.

The Indiana Capitol Chronicle reports Indiana utilities earn a collective ‘C’ grade on clean energy goals.  One Indiana utility company earned top marks and another pair nabbed no points in a national clean energy assessment. The six Hoosier utilities featured averaged a 44% — a “C” grade. The Sierra Club, a California-based environmental advocacy group, annually examines 50 parent companies owning half the country’s fossil fuel generation.

“‘The Dirty Truth’ report is a snapshot in time. It’s looking at what is being planned right now over the next 10 years by these utility companies,” said Robyn Skuya-Boss, director of the Hoosier Chapter of the Sierra Club. They hope the report will push change among utilities — and specifically for low-scorer Duke Energy Indiana. “We want to see Duke do better, and we want to see Duke really show us and customers who want clean, affordable and reliable energy that they are taking those concerns seriously and … moving forward with those plans over the next five years,” Skuya-Boss said.

The study metrics are based on goals set by President Joe Biden. He wants the country to get 80% of its energy from emissions-free sources by 2030 and 100% by 2035. The organization evaluated utilities’ renewable energy transition plans based on their commitments to retire coal-powered generation by 2030, build no new natural gas plants through 2035 and add enough renewable energy to replace their fossil fuel generation by 2035.

The Sierra Club gave Duke Energy Indiana its worst score since the report launched in 2021. The utility serves much of the state.  Duke earned 13% in 2021, 27% in 2022 and 26% in 2023 — but nothing this year. The company plans to convert two units at its coal-powered Gibson Station to also run on natural gas; that would delay the plant’s retirement by three years, until 2038, WFYI reported. Duke would additionally wait to bring on most of its renewable energy until well into the 2030s, per its 20-year plan.

Duke Energy Indiana spokeswoman Angeline Protogere said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules will let utilities co-fire units with coal and natural gas until 2038. “We’re still reducing emissions, but we’re also managing costs for customers,” she wrote via email. “Our statewide plan is a balance of choices ranging from co-firing existing resources, to replacing some aging units with more efficient energy, to adding renewable power to our system.”

Skuya-Boss criticized the company for continuing to invest in coal, saying Gibson lost almost $56 million last year. That number is according to the Sierra Club, which cites public data.  “I don’t know very many companies that, when they’re operating at a loss, then get to come back and say, ‘Hey, we want a $400 million-plus increase over current rates for putting more money into these plants,” Skuya-Boss said. “It’s a bad choice that, you know, customers really can’t afford.”

Given that Iowa gets 70 percent of its power from wind/solar and intends to convert entirely by 2030, it’s clear there are no barriers to converting entirely to wind/solar. Indiana’s slow pace is simply because management at power companies are too lazy to make any effort to modernize. Ever more damaging hurricanes are no reason to make any effort.

Energy News Network reports a midwest study finds solar farms don’t hurt property values — and they may even boost them. Loyola University research looked at property values surrounding dozens of large Midwest solar farms and found a slightly positive effect, likely tied to their broader economic benefits in communities. A newly published study examining property values near dozens of large Midwest solar farms has found no significant negative impact — and even a slight positive effect — from the projects, according to the data.

Loyola University researcher Gilbert Michaud has attended scores of community meetings about proposed solar projects across the Midwest. In past research, he quantified that property values were the most common concern brought up in local hearings about proposed utility-scale solar. And while solar arrays may have an aesthetic impact, property values are influenced by a wide range of other factors, such as the quality of schools and the local economy.

“I’ve observed a lot of the negative comments framed as ‘I think’ or ‘I saw something on social media,’” said Michaud, an assistant professor of environmental policy at the School of Environmental Sustainability at Loyola University Chicago. So he sought to “elevate the discussion from ‘I think, I think, I think,’” by injecting it with some hard data. His latest study, published in the journal Solar Compass, looked at property values surrounding 70 utility-scale solar projects in the Midwest and found they actually had a minor positive effect — increasing values 0.5% to 2%.

“While the impact itself — of a few thousand dollars — might not be incredibly meaningful,” said Michaud, “clearly these projects drive economic development in rural communities, through jobs, tax contributions, etcetera, which in turn increase residential property values.”

The New York Times reports Biden now requires that lead drinking-water pipes to be replaced nationwide. The “historic” rule aims to eliminate a major source of lead poisoning and comes a decade after a drinking-water crisis in Flint, Mich. Marking the 10th anniversary of the water crisis in Flint, Mich., President Biden on Tuesday gave water utilities 10 more years to replace virtually every lead pipe in the country, imposing the strictest limits to date on a neurotoxin that is particularly dangerous to infants and children.

The president, surrounded by yellow waterworks trucks and speaking to workers at the Department of Public Works field office in Milwaukee, described the new regulation as an overdue environmental justice breakthrough for disadvantaged communities that he said had “borne the brunt of lead poisoning for damn too long.”

The new rule, issued by the Environmental Protection Agency, sets the most aggressive restrictions on lead in drinking water since federal standards were first set decades ago.  Utilities will be required to take stock of their lead pipes and replace them over the next 10 years, a policy that four states — Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey and Rhode Island — have in place already. It replaces less-stringent regulations, adopted during the Trump administration, on lead in drinking water.

Feature Report

In this week’s feature, Environmental Correspondent Robert Shull interviews Charlie Laughlin who runs Commercial Services for Heating and Cooling, discussing the advantages and disadvantages of geo-thermal heat pumps.

• Enjoy Collecting Colors at McCormick’s Creek State Park on Saturday, October 19th, from 11 am to Noon.  Join Naturalist Kaitlyn on an easy hike to learn how to identify trees by their leaves.  You will end your hike to make a leaf craft.
• An Autumn Colors Sunset Hike is planned for Saturday, October 19th, from 5 to 7 pm at the Griffy Lake Nature Preserve.  The hike takes place during the “golden hour” when the sun approaches the  horizon as it sets, and lights up the world in warm shades of yellow, orange and red.  The views with surrounding trees is breathtaking.
• A Forestry Open House will take place at Morgan-Monroe State Forest and Yellowwood State Forest on Thursday, October 24th, from 4 to 7 pm at the Morgan-Monroe State Forest Office.  You will learn about the forest, recreation and facility management.  Questions and comments will follow.
• A program on Into Darkness will take place at Spring Mill State Park on Friday, October 25th, from 2 to 3 pm.  You will learn all about the creatures that dwell in a world of total darkness in Spring Mill’s caves.
• Make a Halloween Sand Candle at the Paynetown State Recreation Area at Monroe Lake on Friday, October 25th, from 2:30 to 4 pm.  You will get to create and decorate your own mold in the sand to make your special Halloween Sand Candle.

Credits:

On Air………………………………….Julianna Dailey
On Air………………………………………..Zero Roze
Headlines…………………………………..Norm Holy
Feature Report………………………….Robert Schull
Script…………………………………..Julianna Dailey
Events Calendar……………………….Julianna Dailey
Engineer……………………………..Branden Blewett

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Eco Report is  looking for reporters, engineers, and segment producer to report facts on how we’re all affected by global climate disruption and the ongoing assaults on our air, land and water. We also celebrate ecologists, tree huggers, soil builders and other champions who actively protect and restore our natural world, particularly those who are active in south central Indiana. All levels of experience and all ages are welcome, and we provide the training you’ll need. WFHB also offers internships. To volunteer for Eco Report, call at (812) 323-1200, or e-mail [email protected].