Indianapolis — For the second year in a row, Indiana has ranked at or near the top of a national survey tracking the installation of large scale wind developments in the United States in 2009. In the last two years, Indiana has gone from 50th to 13th among wind-producing states.

Indiana installed 905 megawatts of wind power in 2009, according to the American Wind Energy Association. That puts Indiana second only to Texas for the year. In 2008, Indiana was singled out by AWEA as having the fastest wind power growth in the U.S.

The 2009 AWEA Year End Market report shows a total of some 10,000 megawatts, or MW, of wind power was installed during the year, bringing the total amount of wind power in the United States to 35,000 megawatts. Indiana’s 905 MW increase was second to Texas, where nearly 2,300 MW became operational.

Indiana has five privately developed wind farms in operation generating more than 1,000 MW of wind power. A sixth facility is under construction, and a number of other wind farms are proposed. It is projected that there could be approximately 3,000 MW of wind power in operation in Indiana by 2013. 1 MW of electricity is enough to power 300-500 Hoosier homes. In addition to the farms themselves, 11 Hoosier companies manufacture wind turbine components. These companies employ 1,000 Hoosier workers. That number is expected to jump by at least 500 in 2010.

West Lafayette, Ind. — Indiana electricity rates are projected to increase 12 percent over the next four years, while the recession and more efficient appliances will lower overall demand, according to a report prepared by analysts at Purdue University.

Major factors driving up rates will be new federal air-quality standards, coupled with increasing construction and fuel costs, said Douglas Gotham, director of the State Utility Forecasting Group, a state-funded panel of researchers based at Purdue.

The report, entitled "Indiana Electricity Projections: The 2009 Forecast," contains projections of the state's energy needs between 2008 and 2027 and was prepared for the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC). Analysts presented the report's findings to the state utility commission on Dec. 29.

The forecast was prepared by Gotham; Paul Preckel, a Purdue professor of agricultural economics; and analysts Forrest Holland, Marco Velastegui and David Nderitu.

Driving up rates are more stringent environmental guidelines that will hit Indiana harder than some states because of its heavy use of coal, Gotham said.

More than 90 percent of the electricity generated in the state is from coal-fired power plants. As of 2007, Indiana ranked fourth in the United States in the amount of nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide emitted annually.

Clean-air standards from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency require Indiana utilities to increase the amount of equipment for reducing sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides emissions from coal-burning power plants.

"Utilities have added pollution-control equipment, which turned out to be much more expensive than previous estimates, largely because of an increase in construction costs," Gotham said.

Among the report's findings is the prediction that by 2013 electricity rates will increase by 12 percent overall, with residential rates rising 14 percent, commercial 13 percent and industrial 11 percent. Rates are projected to rise slightly over the rest of the 20-year period, increasing a total of 15 percent by 2027, Gotham said.

Meanwhile, the recession and other factors have profoundly affected demand.

"Electricity consumption dropped 2.4 percent over the last two years, which is very unusual," Gotham said. "Demand is predicted to rise only 1.55 percent each year over the next 20 years. This is much lower than the 2 to 3 percent annual growth in demand we've seen since the end of the 1980s recession."

The panel used a system of sophisticated mathematical models to predict future trends for residential, commercial and industrial power users in the state. Projections of electricity demand are based on the estimated impact of manufacturing output and employment, commercial employment, population, energy prices, and other factors.

"One factor reducing demand is a renewed interest in energy efficiency," Gotham said.

Incandescent light bulbs are expected to be phased out, and more efficient appliances also will restrain demand.

Consumption is projected to grow 36 percent by 2027, from this year's 110,000 gigawatt hours to nearly 150,000 gigawatt hours. A gigawatt is 1 billion watts. One gigawatt hour is the constant use of one gigawatt for an hour, or enough energy to serve the annual needs of about 90 average-sized Indiana homes.

The projections are done on a statewide basis. Some utilities would be expected to experience lower growth than others based on the economic and geographic factors that they face. Similarly, price increases will vary among utilities, Gotham said.

The report looked at three categories of electricity provided to users:

• baseload power, which is produced by plants that generate electricity throughout the day;
• peaking power, which is produced by plants providing electricity only during times of heaviest demand, such as the hottest periods on summer days;
• and cycling power, which is produced by plants providing power for uses that are between peaking and baseload demand.

In the forecast two years ago, analysts projected a need for 3,220 megawatts of additional resources by 2012, of which 1,290 megawatts were baseload, 600 megawatts were peaking and 1,330 megawatts were cycling. In contrast, the new report projects a need for 540 megawatts of baseload resources by 2015, 480 of peaking and 300 of cycling.

"The reduction in new resource requirements is due to a combination of lower demand growth projections in the new report and new generating resources that Indiana utilities have acquired or have started construction on since the previous report was prepared," Gotham said.

The Purdue-based group prepares the reports about every two years to predict Indiana's future electricity requirements and the need for new generating capacity.

A copy of the report is available on the State Utility Forecasting Group's Web site. 

The forecasting group does not make recommendations. The studies are done in accordance with a state law enacted in 1985 to provide the state regulatory commission with an impartial projection of electricity consumption and peak demand. That information is used to determine whether the need exists for additional power plants. This is the 12th full report compiled by the group.

The forecasting group is housed within Purdue's Energy Center, which is part of the university's Discovery Park.

By Leslie Webb, president of Carmel Green Initiative.

So what’s the connection between faith and energy? Come and learn about environmental stewardship and how to get involved in shaping our renewable energy future.

All are invited to attend Green Energy-Green Jobs: A Legislative Town Hall Meeting and Information Fair, 6 to 9 p.m, Thursday, Jan. 7, at Epworth United Methodist Church, 6450 Allisonville Rd.

The evening begins with an Information Fair from 6 to 7:30 p.m. featuring exhibits on renewable energy, faith-based environmental stewardship and how to get involved in legislative issues.

In a town hall-style meeting beginning at 7:30 p.m., energy experts and Indiana State Senators Merritt and Breaux will explore Indiana’s energy future. Senator Merritt chairs the Indiana Senate’s Utilities and Technology Committee and Senator Breaux is its ranking minority member.

As key legislators, Senators Merritt and Breaux will work on bills related to energy, utilities, coal, and renewable energy. This public forum will provide a preview of energy issues in the 2010 General Assembly and how citizens can get involved in the debate.

Audience members are encouraged to submit questions in advance for Senators Merritt and Breaux to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Epworth United Methodist Church is located at 6450 Allisonville Road If you have questions about this event, call (317) 251-1481 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The event is co-sponsored by Epworth United Methodist Green Team, Indianapolis Green Congregations, Hoosier Environmental Council, Indiana Renewable Energy Association and the Indianapolis Business Alliance for Local Living Economies.

The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission has ordered Indianapolis Power & Light Co., to suspend its tree-trimming practices on private property until the state agency issues its final report.

In a Dec. 10 filing, the commission suspended IPL’s “right to trim and remove trees located on customer’s property.”

The order of suspension comes after several public hearings the commission held this fall throughout the state to investigate consumer complaints about the tree-trimming practices of various utilities, including IPL and Duke Energy, formerly Public Service Indiana.

The commission agreed to investigate the issue following a complaint by Charles Goodman, an east side Indianapolis resident, and Jerry Baker, a Traders Point resident on the city’s northwest side.

“With the help of many, we have really achieved something here,” Baker said in an e-mail.

Indianapolis — The Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library has embarked on a multi-year pilot project designed to lower energy consumption and guaranteed to reduce operating costs.

The Library’s Guaranteed Energy Savings Project initially will focus on the Library Services Center, 2450 N. Meridian St., IMCPL’s second-largest building that serves as its administrative and processing headquarters. By upgrading the building’s lighting, heating and cooling systems, IMCPL will achieve an annual savings of more than $145,000 in energy and operational expenses.During the six-year project, that amounts to over $964,000 in savings, adjusted for inflation.

The savings are guaranteed by Energy Solutions by JMS of Indianapolis, which was awarded a $796,000 contract, funded by non-operating monies from the library’s capital projects construction fund. The company will perform services that include an energy audit, engineering and installation of equipment modifications, monitoring and the reporting of savings as required by Indiana statute.

If the savings are not achieved, Energy Solutions must reimburse IMCPL for the difference between the guaranteed amount and the actual cost savings. The company will also work to obtain rebates for the library, as permitted.

“The projected savings from this project will greatly reduce our utility and maintenance costs and have a positive impact on our operating budget well beyond the term of this agreement,” said Ed Olsen, the library’s director of facilities. “The library is taking advantage of this opportunity to make major changes in our energy consumption that can be replicated at other IMCPL locations for even greater long-term savings.”

The cost of retrofitting the Library Services Center with new energy efficient lamps, electronic ballast, an HVAC digital control panel and other systems will be recovered from the resulting energy savings within six years.

A smaller project involving lighting improvements at Eagle Branch, 3325 Lowry Road, has been contracted with Perfection Group Inc., of Indianapolis. It calls for annual savings of over $4,400, with the cost of retrofitting made up from energy savings within four years.

The library intends to expand the energy saving initiative to its other facilities, many of which were constructed with outdated and extremely inefficient infrastructure systems. It represents that latest of IMCPL’s numerous efforts to identify cost savings and maximize taxpayer resources.