CenterPoint lands approval for natural gas facility
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (Inside INdiana Business) — The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission has approved plans from Evansville-based CenterPoint Energy Indiana South to build a natural gas turbine facility in Posey County. The electric utility business of Texas-based CenterPoint Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNP) says the $334 million project will replace two coal-fired generation units at the A.B. Brown power plant.
CenterPoint first detailed plans for the project just over one year ago. The company says two natural gas combustion turbines will be built at the power plant that, when complete, will provide 460 megawatts of electricity.
Steve Greenley, senior vice president of generation development for CenterPoint, says there will be no immediate impact to customer electric bills.
“The recovery of the investments associated with the CTs will be requested through a future electric rate case,” Greenley said in written remarks. “When combining the savings to be realized through securitization and other bill reductions associated with the added renewable investments, the average residential customer is estimated to see a bill impact of less than $10 per month for the total generation transition.”
A timeline for the construction of the turbines was not immediately disclosed. The utility plans to retire the coal-fired units 1 and 2 at the A.B. Brown plant in late 2023.