In November 2007, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) approved Duke Energy's plan to construct a coal gasification plant in Edwardsport, Ind.
This plant will use coal to produce substitute natural gas, a process that is supposed to be a more efficient way of producing the same energy output as regular coal-fired steam plants. Originally, the project budget was approved by the IURC at just under $2 billion, but after significant cost overruns, it now stands at over $3.5 billion.
The IURC has determined that Duke Energy shareholders will be held responsible for $900 million of the total cost of the project. This puts the responsibility of the remaining $2.6 billion on Indiana ratepayers. To cover the cost overruns, the utility company will be charging Indiana customers an extra 14 percent beginning in 2014. DePauw is a Duke Energy customer, meaning we will be directly impacted.
These rate hikes will mean a significant increase in the utility costs for DePauw. Rate increases for the university will likely be reflected in our future tuition bills. But there is a course of action that we can take to avoid our already high tuition rates from increasing even further - now is the ideal time for the university to switch some of its energy consumption to renewable sources. Adding renewables into the 2020 Plan is the perfect place to start.
As I wrote earlier this semester, one renewable option for DePauw is geothermal heating and cooling, and the construction of the new Hoover Dining Hall is a great place to begin. Statistics show that a geothermal system can reduce the utility costs of a building by 25-50 percent. Switching the university's traditional boiler system over time to a geothermal system would more than counterbalance the 14 percent in additional utility costs and there would even be extra savings to help pay for the remainder of the 2020 Plan.
Of course, there are other renewable options that the university can take: a wind turbine or solar panels on the roof of Julian, for example. But geothermal seems to be the most practical. It covers the need of heating and cooling within the buildings, while drastically reducing utility costs.
The rate increases of Duke Energy present the perfect window of opportunity for DePauw to begin the transition away from traditional energy sources to achieving carbon neutrality. Now not only would DePauw be a sustainability leader, but the financial impact of the Edwardsport plant would not be reflected in our tuition bills.
- Anderson is a sophomore from Sycamore, Ill. majoring in political science.
