The U.S. Commerce Department’s probe into tariff evasion by Chinese importers of solar panel components has prolonged the life of one northern Indiana coal plant by two years.
NiSource said during its May 4 first-quarter earnings call that it will postpone retirement of the R.M. Schahfer plant’s remaining two units from 2023 to 2025 because the investigation is stalling its development of solar facilities meant to replace the 877-MW facility.
The retirement raincheck is one of the first ripple effects since the federal government began its investigation in April. (See Solar Sector Braces for Tariff Probe Impact.)
In a press release, NiSource explained that the probe has “brought uncertainty and delays to the solar panel market.” It said it was working with its renewable energy developers to “better understand the potential project impacts.”
Shawn Anderson, NiSource chief strategy and risk officer, said the utility’s 10 solar and energy storage projects slated to come online over this year and next now face delays of six to 18 months.
“Our focus has been to accelerate savings for our customers to benefit from the renewable transition, and delays resulting from this investigation may ultimately delay the timing of when our customers could begin receiving these benefits, especially in the current energy cost inflationary environment,” Anderson said during the call.
The utility plans to idle all its coal plants by 2028 and cut its carbon emissions 90% from 2005 levels by 2030. Despite the deferral, NiSource said its clean-energy goals remain unchanged. The company said it expects to retire its Michigan City Generating Station sometime between 2026 and 2028.
NiSource also said despite solar development delays, it remains on track to spend $10 billion in capital investments, including $2 billion on renewable projects, between 2021 and 2024. The utility said it has planned “flexibility in the timing of other gas and electric infrastructure capital investments that can allow adjustments to compensate for delays in renewable generation projects.”
