Low natural gas prices continued to depress Northern Indiana Public Service’s coal burn in the second quarter, causing consumption to fall 36% and inventory levels to rise sharply, the utility said in a new regulatory filing. Nipsco’s coal prices increased by $1.10/short ton from the first quarter of 2015, however, largely because of a change in the mix of coals received by the NiSource subsidiary, Nipsco told the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission this week. “Low natural gas prices continue to depress coal burn, and consequently inventory stocks are growing well above customer targets,” Dennis Rackers, Nipsco director of fuel supply, said in testimony filed with the commission. “Coal unit retirements under the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule are also reducing demand for coal and spot market prices across all coal regions remained relatively soft.” The Supreme Court recently placed the US Environmental Protection Agency’s MATS rule on hold, […]