Attorney General Todd Rokita today announced he is taking action to save a much-needed power plant from closure in southwest Indiana.
In an Ohio federal district court, Attorney General Rokita filed a motion Friday to intervene in the consent decree proceedings regarding the scheduled 2028 closure of the AEP Rockport power plant.
In April, Attorney General Rokita met with local leaders from Rockport and Spencer County to discuss concerns about the Rockport plant’s closure and the impact it would have on the community. Since that meeting, the Attorney General’s Office has been actively working on a solution to intervene.
“Indiana’s energy policy should be decided by Hoosiers, for Hoosiers — not by judges hundreds of miles away in Ohio,” Attorney General Rokita said. “We cannot sit on the sidelines while plant closures, driven by outdated agreements and federal overreach, jeopardize affordable, reliable power for our families, businesses, and growing economy. Our office is taking decisive action to ensure this safe energy source remains available as long as it is needed.”
The Rockport Generating Station, located in Spencer County, consists of two large coal-fired units that have provided reliable power to the region. Indiana Michigan Power, a subsidiary of American Electric Power (AEP), previously committed to retiring Unit 1 by the end of 2028 under a consent decree involving the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, northeastern states, the Sierra Club and other activist parties. In conjunction with the decision, Indiana Michigan Power decided to shutter Unit 2 on the same timeline.
The Rockport plant supports over 170 direct jobs, plus many more in the coal supply industry. Its property taxes also form a significant part of the funding base for schools, roads and emergency services. These losses and early retirement of coal plants throughout the state would be difficult to absorb not only in Spencer County but also in surrounding coal-producing counties like Sullivan, Knox and Gibson. Indiana Michigan Power is projecting that power demand in its Indiana service territory will more than double by the early 2030s.
Aggressive federal regulations under the Obama and Biden administrations continue to burden reliable coal plants. They significantly tightened regulations affecting coal-fired power plants to accelerate their retirement. Many of these regulations have since been rolled back or are currently being reconsidered, and plant technologies like smokestack scrubbers and other pollution-control measures have substantially reduced emissions over the past 30 years.
From a cost perspective, these units are already built and substantially paid down, so early retirement risks saddling ratepayers with the remaining book value of a stranded asset. While Indiana Michigan Power has announced plans to build a 1,520-megawatt natural gas plant at the site, that cannot replace the existing 2,600 megawatts of coal capacity. Unlike natural gas — which is often imported from out of state and dependent on pipeline capacity — coal can be sourced regionally and stockpiled on site.
Attorney General Rokita’s office is intervening in efforts to overturn the consent decree provision effectively mandating retirement of the coal plant. Attorney General Rokita is committed to advocate for Indiana’s interests and push for a reevaluation based on current realities. The motion seeks to protect workers, local communities, ratepayers, and the broader economy while holding federal agencies and out-of-state actors accountable.
Read the motion to intervene here.