IPL’s Eagle Valley Generating Station, located in Martinsville, Indiana (click for larger version)
Seems like a day doesn’t by that we don’t notice yet another natural gas-fired electric plant project has been announced, or in this case, has come online! Here’s a project not previously on our radar. Indianapolis Power & Light (IPL) built and recently brought online a 671-megawatt combined-cycle natural gas-fired electric plant about 30 miles southwest of downtown Indianapolis. The new plant can power up to 370,000 homes. Gas-fired plants are a huge market for Marcellus/Utica gas. “But Jim,” you say. “This plant is in Indiana! There’s no Marcellus/Utica gas in Indiana. In fact, Rover, NEXUS and other pipelines don’t go through Indiana, so why are you excited about this plant?” Good question. We’re excited because there ARE pipelines in the vicinity that flow our gas–including the mighty Rockies Express (REX), which was reversed in June 2014 and now flows our gas all the way to points in Missouri (see Rockies Express Pipeline Reverses Flow from Utica to Midwest). According to a statement issued by IPL, the new Eagle Valley gas-fired plant can access “low-cost fuel” from the Rockies Express Pipeline and Texas Gas interstate pipelines. That is, Marcellus/Utica gas…
