IPL asks for Lake Monroe water for cooling contingencyBy Bethany Nolan 331-4373 |
bnolan@heraldt.comIndianapolis Power & Light is seeking a contract with the state for the ability to draw up to 23 million gallons of water per day from Lake Monroe for what is essentially a contingency plan in case the energy provider needs extra water to cool its Petersburg generating plant.
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Water will host a public hearing on the request at 11 a.m. May 21 in the third-floor meeting room of the Monroe County Courthouse.
DNR spokeswoman Monique Riggs said the contract request would allow IPL to reserve an annual maximum of 1,000 acre-feet — or 325.9 million gallons — of water from Lake Monroe for low flow augmentation. If the contract were approved, IPL could request water be released from the lake, which would follow the White River to the company’s Petersburg plant in Pike County, where it would be used to cool the plant, Riggs said. The contract would not allow the water be used for other purposes, such as drinking.
The energy provider had a similar contract with the DNR in the past, but had allowed it to lapse after seeking only one release under that contract back in 1999. The current request is essentially a renewal of that former contract, Riggs said.
If drought conditions prohibited the release of water from Lake Monroe under the proposed contract, IPL said its contingency plan could include reducing the amount of electricity available to its customers or shutting down the Petersburg station.
Indianapolis Power & Light provides electric service to more than 465,000 residential, commercial, and industrial customers in central Indiana, per its Web site.
Per state code, a hearing officer who attends the public meeting on the contract request will provide written recommendations to an advisory council, which in turn reports to the Natural Resources Commission. That commission has the power to grant, deny or set conditions on such requests, the code said. The contract is then subject to approval by the Indiana Attorney General and Gov. Mitch Daniels.
A recent legal notice advertising the public hearing caught the attention of locals. Monroe County residents are still both nervous and curious about requests regarding water draws from Lake Monroe following a controversial 2006 proposal to build a water pipeline from Lake Monroe to Indianapolis that could have drained more than six times the city’s average daily use of 14 million gallons from the lake. Lake Monroe is Bloomington’s water supply.
