Author Archives Laura Arnold

How do you remember former Indiana Gov. Otis “Doc” Bowen? Bowen signed Indiana’s 1st state solar tax credit bill

Posted by Laura Arnold / May 06, 2013 / Posted in Uncategorized / No Comments

Indiana Governor Otis 'Doc' Bowen signs Indiana solar and renewable energy tax credits in 1980

Please find below the story that most Hoosiers will read about Doc Bowen from this morning's front page of the Indianapolis Star. But the photo above taken in 1980 as a bill signing ceremony commemorating a 25% state income tax credit for solar and renewable energy in Indiana is how I remember Governor Bowen.

The passage of this state income tax credit was my first legislative victory as an advocate for solar and renewable energy in the Hoosier state. That's me standing just to the left of Governor Bowen who is seated in the middle of the photograph. To my left is then Indiana State Senator John Mutz (R-Indianapolis) who would later become Lt. Governor serving under former Indiana Governor Robert Orr. The other two people to the left of Mutz are State Senator John Augsburger (R-Syracuse) and State Rep. Walt Roorda (R-DeMotte) who died in 1993.

How do you remember Governor Doc Bowen? Please share your stories with us here at IndianaDG.

Former Indiana Gov. Otis Bowen, who fought for tax relief, AIDS funding, dies

Written by Jill Disis May 6, 2013 | 10 Comments

Otis “Doc” Bowen, the small-town doctor who succeeded in providing property tax relief as Indiana governor in the 1970s and then became one of the first federal officials to seek funds to battle the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, has died.

He was 95.

Bowen passed away at 6:18 p.m. Saturday in Donaldson, Ind., at the Catherine Kasper Life Center, a retirement community 20 miles from his hometown of Bremen.

The Republican was elected governor in 1972, serving two terms from 1973 to 1981. In 1985, President Ronald Reagan appointed him as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, a position he held until 1989.

“Governor Otis R. Bowen’s contributions to the life of this state and nation are incalculable, and I mark his passing with a sense of personal loss,” said Gov. Mike Pence in a news release. “His story is as inspiring as it is uniquely Hoosier.”

Born in Fulton County near Rochester, Ind., the “simple country doctor” had shown an interest in medicine and public service from a young age.

After graduating from Indiana University-Bloomington’s School of Medicine in 1942, “Doc” Bowen enlisted in the Army Medical Corps and served in the Pacific during World War II, reaching the rank of captain.

When the war ended, he moved home to Bremen, Ind., and in 1952 was elected Marshall County coroner.

That job sparked a long political career for Bowen, who also served 14 years in the Indiana House of Representatives — five as speaker of the House.

Bowen became the 44th governor of Indiana in 1973, and was the first since 1851 to serve two consecutive terms in office after a change in the state constitution.

He was credited with controlling the growth of property taxes, while shifting the Hoosier tax burden to sales and income taxes, a plan he told Hoosiers would be “visible, lasting and substantial.”

Bowen made state-backed property tax relief his top campaign pledge as those taxes had more than doubled in the previous decade. Legislation passed the next year doubled the sales tax to 4 percent and dedicating the extra revenue to property tax cuts. The proposal was so hotly contested that it only passed the state Senate when Bowen’s lieutenant governor, Robert D. Orr, cast a tiebreaking vote.

In addition to his property tax control program, Bowen also pushed through limits on the cost of medical malpractice insurance to doctors. That action limited the amount a patient could recover and required the patient to first have the case reviewed by a state panel before filing a lawsuit.

Confronted AIDS epidemic

Bowen was appointed secretary of HHS by Reagan in 1985, serving as the nation’s chief medical officer and championing the cause of securing more funding for AIDS, after the Reagan administration had been criticized for not doing enough to focus the public’s attention and resources on the growing disease.

“Probably not enough was done early,” Bowen told The Star after Reagan’s death in 2004. He was credited with working to speed the approval of new drugs, particularly those designed to fight AIDS. During Bowen’s stint in the Cabinet, the first drug designed to combat AIDS — AZT — gained federal approval.

Although a Republican, Bowen’s appointment as secretary of HHS was opposed by conservative religious groups, because while Indiana’s governor, he had vetoed legislation that would have restricted the right of a woman to seek an abortion.

For Bowen, according to one observer of that fight, “abortion was not a moral issue. It was a medical issue.” However, as head of Health and Human Services, Bowen went along with a Reagan White House plan to prohibit federally funded family planning clinics from dispensing any information concerning abortion. The U.S. Supreme Court in 1991 upheld that power in a celebrated court battle over abortion rights.

Bowen also fought a winning — but ultimately a losing —battle to get Medicare coverage extended to seniors with catastrophic illnesses. Congress passed the proposal in June 1988, but it was repealed a year later after an outcry from Medicare recipients who saw their premiums rise.

Bowen’s time in the Cabinet was his last in a major political office. But he didn’t leave the spotlight completely.

In 2008, 35 years after the property tax legislation he championed passed, he publicly announced his support of similar tax cap legislation proposed by then-Gov. Mitch Daniels.

“I see an opportunity today for Mitch Daniels and our elected senators and representatives to finish the job we started in 1973 by providing real and permanent property tax relief to Hoosiers with strong safeguards to prevent future spending increases,” Bowen wrote in a 2008 editorial printed in The Star.

Daniels’ tax cap legislation became law that year, and in November 2010, Hoosiers voted to make property tax caps an amendment to the constitution.

Twice widowed

The cause of Bowen’s death has not been released.

Ray Rizzo, a former speechwriter for Bowen who served as a legislative assistant throughout many of his years in Indiana government, said he last saw Bowen about a year ago.

“He was in good spirits,” Rizzo said. “We had a great time reminiscing.”

Bowen outlived two of his wives, Elizabeth “Beth” Steinmann Bowen and Rose May Hochstetler Bowen. He is survived by his wife, Carol, his sons, Richard H., Timothy R., and Robert O. Bowen, and his daughter, Judith I. McGrew.

Culver Duck factory in Middlebury (IN) turns waste into energy; Sells power to NIPSCO using feed-in tariff (FIT)

Attending the Culver Duck Farm tour were (left to right): Ryan Clem, District Director for Congresswoman Jackie Walorski; Paul Lagemann, Regional Director for NE Indiana for US Senator Dan Coats; and Timothy Sanders, Associate Vice President for governmental relations for Purdue University.

Unfortunately, no members of the Indiana General Assembly participated in this program since the tour was held during the final week of the 2013 session. Another program for Indiana state legislators is clearly in order.

On 4/23/2013, the Indiana Biomass Energy Working Group (IBEWG), met at Das Dutchman Essenhaus in Middlebury, IN, to learn about the Culver Duck anaerobic digester that sells power power to NIPSCO using their voluntary feed-in tariff (VFIT).

This was a terrific program, tour and networking opportunity. Sorry if you missed it. This was definitely worth the long drive from Indianapolis to Middlebury.

This project was made possible in part by participation in the voluntary feed-in tariff (VFIT) offered by Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO). For more information about this program contact: Laura.Arnold@IndianaDG.net or call (317) 635-1701. This program is scheduled to expire 12/31/2013, however, discussions are scheduled soon to determine whether this program will be continued. Join IndianaDG to learn more and to participate in this discussion. If discussions are positive, we expect that NIPSCO will file a petition with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) before the end of the year.

Presentations from the meeting are available on-line at:

http://extension.purdue.edu/renewable-energy/indiana-biomass-working-group.shtml

In particular, you may be interested in the slides presented by Dee Cota with NIPSCO:

http://extension.purdue.edu/renewable-energy/pdf/NIPSCO_Feed_In_Tariff_-_Dee_Cota_April_23.pdf

Find additional information at: http://www.jpr1source.com/culver-duck/

Watch this JPR video it's awesome: http://youtu.be/nhcMX5LH52I

Way to go Culver Duck and JPR!

IBEWG April 23, 2013

Apr 26, 2013
by Purdue Renewable Energy

View Album
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Jen Meier | The Goshen News Culver Duck Renewable Resource Manager Don Young stands in front of the digester and three massive generators that turn duck waste into energy. The process began in 2011 with the installation of wetlands and was completed in December 2012 with a $6 million digester system. Jennifer Meier

April 28, 2013

Culver Duck factory turns waste into energy

By JENNIFER MEIER THE GOSHEN NEWS

MIDDLEBURY — When it comes to renewable energy, Culver Duck of Middlebury has, well — all its ducks in a row.

Beginning with a 10-acre wetlands project in 2011, the duck-processing company has embarked on a $6 million journey to become a zero discharge plant by utilizing duck waste to generate methane gas to power the plant.

In March of 2012 construction began on a 930,000-gallon digester, 58,000-gallon reception pit, control room, pump room, separator and biofiber storage building and three large generators.

By December of last year, the anaerobic (absence of oxygen) duck waste digester was up and running.

“We aren’t up to full capacity yet,” said Culver Duck’s Renewable Resource Manager Don Young. “We are continually improving on the amount of gas produced and gas quality. We are almost there.”

How it’s done

The process begins with the plant’s duck waste, called offal, and waste water. The offal heads to the digester and the waste water is pumped into the reception pit. There the concoction is mixed by an agitator with vegetable by-products like corn husks and damaged potatoes.

That mix is then pumped into the digester where three agitators combine it and the offal. The methane gas created is then used to power three massive 550 horse power generators.

“We sell the energy to NIPSCO and then buy it back,” Young said. “The arrangement will meet all the plant’s needs as well as an additional 60 to 120 homes.”

But there’s more to the process than just converting methane into energy.

“If I am pumping something into the digester, I have to pump something out,” Young said. “What’s left goes to the separator room.”

The offal mixture is separated into solids and liquids. The liquid waste is filtered through the wetlands and the solid waste becomes biofibers — which is good for soil enhancement.

And the extra heat exhaust created by the chemical process in the digester will be used to help supplement the plant’s heating needs.

According to company officials, Culver Duck’s $6 million investment will pay for itself in four to five years.

Culver Duck is one of 12 facilities using anaerobic digester systems in the state. Nine of those digesters are being operated at commercial livestock farms.

“This really is cutting-edge technology,” Young said. “I believe we are the only plant in the Western Hemisphere dealing with duck offal.”

The process and the plant were the focus of the Indiana Biomass Energy Working Group’s spring session on Tuesday. The event hosted by Purdue University, pulled together industry experts, researchers, members of the finance community, government officials, farmers and interested members of the public from all over the state.

The group, along with Culver Duck management, met at Das Dutchmen Essanhaus in Middlebury for presentations that included digester technology, Culver Duck’s journey from start to finish, and understanding the NIPSCO energy buying process.

The day’s sessions ended with a tour of the Culver Duck anaerobic digester system.

“This was the largest group we’ve had tour yet,” Young said. “And it went very well. They were very curious and had a lot of questions.”

Others notice

Chad Martin, a renewable energy specialist from the agricultural and biology department at Purdue University, was a part of Tuesday’s program.

“This is not only a great example of solving problems, but of creating opportunities. They are managing waste materials and creating clean renewable energy,” Martin said. “This is definitely a good thing for finding other livestock opportunities statewide.”

Anaerobic Digestion Specialist and researcher at Purdue University Dr. Jiqin Ni, liked what he saw at Culver Duck.

“This is very impressive. They are producing clean, renewable energy, reducing pollution and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels,” Dr. Ni said. “Technology in this area is really growing.”

The technological advances have made it possible for the entire digester process at Culver Duck to be a one-man operation.

“I’ve had plenty of help from IT guys and consultants,” Young said. “But once all the details have been worked out, this really is a one-person job.”

In fact when the working day is over, Young can start and stop the process, check the temperature in the digester, and know how many kilowatts the generators are putting out from his laptop computer at home.

On Friday the Culver Duck Mascot will join the Silver Hawks Mascot on the field during the game against the Quad Cities at Coveliski Stadium in South Bend. The green duck mascot is sponsored by Culver Duck, Whole Foods in Mishawaka (where duck from Culver Duck can be purchased) and JPR consulting firm.

Culver Duck opened in Middlebury in 1960 and raises and processes 5 million ducks a year.

P.S. I joined this group Friday evening at Coveliski Stadium in South Bend and enjoyed a great baseball game while eating a scrumptious dinner featuring duck from Culver Farm. Thanks again for inviting me. Laura Ann Arnold

ClimateWire: As Indiana gasification plant stalls, so does CO2 pipeline

Posted by Laura Arnold / May 03, 2013 / Posted in Uncategorized / No Comments

I know that IndianaDG readers are sick of hearing about the Rockport Indiana Gasification plant but this project is "sucking the oxygen out of the room" and hence, it has dominated discussion of energy policy in our state. It is important to Indiana as well as the rest of the US. The price and source of natural gas either from fracking and shale gas or a synthetic gas plant like the proposed Rockport Indiana Gasification plant is important to the role and future of renewable energy and distributed generation. We do not have the luxury of living and working in a vacuum without the influence of fossil fuels. Your thoughts?Laura Ann Arnold, President, Indiana Distributed Energy Alliance

Posted on 05/03/2013 by ClimateWire

A computer rendering of a proposed coal-to-gas plant near Rockport, Indiana. (Image via Indiana Gasification)

By Christa Marshall

A major “clean” coal project that was once viewed as a keystone for cleaning up the Midwest’s greenhouse gas emissions appears near collapse.

Wednesday, a spokesman for the Indiana Gasification project — which envisioned the capture and storage of carbon dioxide from a coal-to-gas facility in Rockport, Indiana — said the initiative was suspended and “likely dead” after passage of a bill in the state Legislature last weekend.

The $2.8 billion project’s suspension also stalls a first-of-its-kind CO2 pipeline from Denbury Resources that was considered a potential emissions game changer because it would have provided a link for additional, emissions-heavy Midwestern projects to carry captured carbon dioxide to enhanced oil recovery operations in the Gulf Coast.

Indiana Gasification, a subsidiary of Leucadia Corp., planned to carry captured carbon dioxide through the Midwest-Gulf Coast line, which Denbury explored in 2009 via a feasibility study, but had not yet built.

The CO2 pipeline “is not looking like a viable project at this point,” Denbury Resources spokesman Ernesto Alegria said Wednesday. The Indiana Gasification plant was the last remaining potential source of carbon dioxide for the proposed pipeline, Alegria said, and without it, there simply is no incentive to move forward with the greenhouse gas conduit.

“You have to have enough CO2 to make a project,” he said.

The Rockport plant, which had not broken ground, would have captured roughly 5.5 million tons of carbon dioxide annually from the process of gasifying coal into synthetic gas.

Under a 30-year-contract, the Indiana Finance Authority planned to purchase the substitute natural gas at a set rate, estimated by analysts to be around $6.60 per million British thermal units. The state would have then sold the substitute gas for a profit or loss, depending on market prices.

A former governor’s ‘baby’

Indiana Gasification LLC spokesman Mike Murphy said that the state bill, passed early Saturday morning, set new standards that would have added two years of delays and made financing impossible. The bill would allow the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to review the project’s financing contract.

The only way the coal-to-gas plant will be revived is if the state Supreme Court takes up the matter, and that is not guaranteed, he said. The court also would have to rule completely in Indiana Gasification’s favor for it to make a difference, he said. Last year, an Indiana appeals court reversed portions of the financing contract (ClimateWire, Nov. 1, 2012).

“If the Supreme Court does not take the case, the project is dead. The legislature and the governor knew this when they put the language in the law just passed,” said Mark Lubbers, Indiana Gasification project manager, in a statement to ClimateWire.

The project is the latest carbon capture proposal to face severe challenges amid low natural gas prices, changing politics and declining funding options. While several similar plants are still moving forward, many others have been canceled amid spiraling costs and the lack of additional financing.

Many experts believe that carbon capture technology will never get going at a wide scale unless there is a price on carbon or much stricter greenhouse gas rules on power plants.

The Indiana plant was pushed heavily by ex-Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) four years ago at a time when the shale gas boom was not as well-established and carbon fees were on the table nationally.

“This was Mitch Daniels’ baby,” said Kerwin Olson, executive director of the environmental advocacy group Citizens Action Coalition, in a recent interview.

Shale gas trumps syngas

Incoming Gov. Mike Pence (R) was not a similar champion of the idea of gasifying coal into synthetic natural gas, telling the Evansville Courier & Press last month that the project needed re-evaluation.

The project also faced strong opposition from Vectren Corp. and environmentalists, who said synthetic natural gas is not a cheap or smart idea with flush supplies of shale gas available. The wellhead price of natural gas fell from about $8 per thousand cubic feet to $2.66 in 2012,according to the Department of Energy.

“Energy prices have dropped substantially, and what looked like it had real potential when the price of gas was so much higher — now you have to bring into question whether it makes sense,” said Indiana Senate President Pro Tempore David Long, according to an editorial in theCourier & Press.

The opposition from gas utility Vectren and environmentalists all played into the changing politics. The Sierra Club and other activists — who dubbed the plant “the Leucadia tax” — sent more than 6,000 emails and calls into the offices of state lawmakers before the vote.

The project’s supporters said that the plant would have provided financial stability for a state that currently imports its gas. They noted that the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission originally considered the future trajectory of natural gas prices and approved the project to avoid price volatility. Supporters of carbon capture generally note that the technology is the only way to control emissions from coal, which is expected to remain a global player for decades.

In multiple newspaper editorials in the past year, Lubbers said opponents were distorting the state framework for the plant.

Yesterday, he also charged that state legislators were issuing a “false promise” by signaling that the state Supreme Court could revive the project.

“The judgment of the state is very clear: Neither the legislature nor the governor support the contract or the project. The institutions that provide the capital to build a plant of this size will not do business in a state that is so cavalier about the $20-plus million dollars we have already invested,” Lubbers said.

WISH-TV: More details on IPL plan to build $631M powerplant; Download IPL’s petition to IURC

Posted by Laura Arnold / May 01, 2013 / Posted in Uncategorized / No Comments

new-ipl-plant-drawing_20130501104839_JPEG

Rendering of the new proposed Indianapolis Power & Light plant. (WISH photo/John LeSage)

Please visit the WISH-TV website for a video story about the proposed IPL project.

http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/news/local/south_central/ipl-to-build-631m-power-plant

IPL filed a petition with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) on 4/29/2013 to initiate the approval process for this proposed powerplant.

Download IPL's petition: 44339 IPL CPCN Petition nat gas plant_2013-04-29

IPL to build $631M power plant

Brings jobs, more costs to customers

Updated: Wednesday, 01 May 2013, 12:59 PM EDT
Published : Wednesday, 01 May 2013, 10:53 AM EDT

Dustin Grove

MARTINSVILLE, Ind. (WISH) - Indianapolis Power & Light announced Wednesday that it plans to build a $631 million environmentally-friendly power plant near Martinsville.

The natural gas plant will replace the 64-year-old existing coal facility nearby to comply with EPA mandates for power companies nationwide to reduce emissions.

IPL says the new plant will generate about 600 megawatts of electricity and will reduce emissions by about 97 percent.

"This will be one of the cleanest most efficient plants in the state," said IPL CEO Ken Zagzebski.

The project, pending regulatory approval, would provide about 660 construction jobs and 25 permanent positions.

At a ceremony Wednesday morning, Gov. Mike Pence lauded the project for its transition to cleaner energy and for its economic impact.

According to IPL, the project will bring in more than $1.6 million per year in Morgan County through local tax revenue. The overall economic benefit to the state during construction is reported to be more than $857 million and $48 million each year during operation.

IPL customers could also see electricity costs increase by 2 to 3 percent per year through 2018.

If approved, construction would begin in 2014 and completed by 2017.

IPL said it looked at two other sites, but chose Martinsville, in part, because it would be the least costly for customers.

Click here to learn more about the project. Questions about the project can be sent to IPLanswers@aes.com

IPL announces new powerplant for Martinsville (IN)

Posted by Laura Arnold / May 01, 2013 / Posted in Uncategorized / No Comments

IndianaDG will provide an update as soon as additional information becomes available. For additional background, please see these past stories:

Will this mean another CPCN or certificate of need case before the IURC? I think the answer is "yes". But will IPL also need to file a general rate case soon? Some observers believe that a general rate case is long overdue. That's the $64,000 question. Stay tuned to IndianaDG.net!

updated: 5/1/2013 7:19:00 AM

IPL Plans Major New Plant

InsideINdianaBusiness.com Report

Inside INdiana Business has confirmed Indianapolis Power & Light Co. will Wednesday announce plans for a $631 million generating plant in Martinsville. The project that could result in more than 600 construction jobs and 25 permanent positions still needs approval from the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.

April 30, 2013

News Release

Indianapolis, Ind. -- Indianapolis Power & Light Company (IPL) plans to make a major announcement in Morgan County on Wednesday, May 1, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. in Pritchard Park. IPL leaders, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, Morgan County government officials and economic leaders will be in attendance.

WHAT: Indianapolis Power & Light Company Press Conference

WHEN: Wednesday, May 1, 2013; 10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

WHERE: Pritchard Park, 4040 Blue Bluff Rd., Martinsville (across from Eagle Valley Generating Station)

WHO: Indiana Governor Mike Pence, Representatives from Indianapolis Power & Light Company, Morgan County and the City of Martinsville.

About Indianapolis Power & Light Company (IPL): Indianapolis Power & Light Company provides retail electric service to more than 470,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in Indianapolis, as well as portions of other Central Indiana communities surrounding Marion County. During its long history, IPL has supplied its customers with some of the lowest-cost, most reliable power in the country. IPL has received the “Highest Customer Satisfaction With Business Electric Service in the Midwestern U.S. among Midsize Utilities,” according to J.D. Power and Associates’ 2013 Electric Utility Business Customer Satisfaction Study. For more information about the company, please visit www.IPLpower.com.
Indianapolis Power & Light received the highest numerical score among midsize utilities in the Midwestern region in the proprietary J.D. Power and Associates 2013 Electric Utility Business Customer Satisfaction StudySM. Study based on 25,794 total online interviews ranking 12 providers in the Midwest (IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MN, MO, NE, ND, OH, SD, WI). Proprietary study results are based on experiences and perceptions of business users surveyed April-June and September-December 2012. Your experiences may vary. Visit jdpower.com.

Source: Indianapolis Power & Light Co.