The Michigan City Generating Station, one of NIPSCO’s coal-fired power plants, sits on the shore of Lake Michigan. Burning coal contributes greenhouse gas emissions that fuel climate change, but that isn’t the only reason the utility wants to shut this plant down. Credit: Joe Passe/CC-BY-SA-2.0 When Indiana’s third-largest utility analyzed the economics of its power plants last year, it decided it was time for a big shift—away from the coal power that had long sustained the business and toward renewable energy. The coal plants simply weren’t paying off anymore. In fact, shutting them down would save about $4 billion over 30 years. But the utility, NIPSCO, knew it would face a fight. Indiana is second only to Texas in generating electricity from coal, and the state has several coal mines and politically connected coal companies. Coal interests launched a campaign to try to stop NIPSCO’s plan and hired former […]