Gov. Braun’s Executive Order Moves to Throw a Lifeline to Coal Plants to Power Data Centers

Indiana Governor Braun has signed an executive order directing the state's Secretary of Energy and Natural Resources to look for ways to reopen retired coal plants or keep certain coal plants from shutting down. The move comes as tech companies propose new AI data centers in Indiana, which would need large amounts of electricity.

This follows a separate federal action last month, when the Trump Administration renewed orders to keep two Indiana coal plants, Culley and Schahfer, running. Notably, both Schahfer coal units are currently broken, and CenterPoint, which owns the Culley plant, had asked the U.S. Department of Energy not to extend the order, saying the plant would need substantial investment to keep an "inefficient and increasingly unreliable asset" going.

Sierra Club's Indiana chapter director criticized the order, questioning who benefits from keeping coal plants open to power data centers and arguing the state should weigh what rebuilding and repairing old coal units will cost Indiana households before delaying planned retirements.

For homeowners, this is a state-level policy story rather than one with an immediate program or rebate to act on. But it's worth watching if you live in Indiana: decisions about whether to keep aging coal plants running, largely to serve new data center demand, can affect future electricity rates and the mix of power sources serving your area. There's no specific cost or rate change mentioned yet, but the debate over who pays for extending coal plants is one that could eventually show up on utility bills.