Latest news with #SenateBill424
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Indiana Republicans promise utility bill relief, but fail to deliver
Hoosiers deserve a legislature that works for them, not against them. In an economy riddled with day-to-day uncertainty, utility prices in our state soar at rates that outpace both wages and inflation, burdening families with a weight that is often too much to bear. The devastating reality of more than 174,000 of Indiana's underserved households losing access to power — sometimes during the most dangerously hot days of the year — forced Statehouse Republicans to enter the last session pledging that relief is on the way. Words are one thing, action is another. The utility legislation prioritized this session doesn't just continue the supermajority's pattern of promising financial relief and failing to deliver — it also unravels years of progress toward reducing coal dependence, forces ratepayers to fund projects that may never materialize and locks Indiana's natural environment even deeper into a dead-last national ranking. Furthermore, my efforts to assist Hoosiers by creating an option to expand the income-driven utility assistance program were shot down. It is a moral failure that we ask Hoosiers to fund nuclear research for large corporations. This failure is only amplified when we refuse to support families facing shutoff in a world where the summer's hottest days only get hotter every year. Briggs: Fishers, Carmel don't think renters deserve single-family homes With the threat of bill increases from Senate Bill 424, we are doing a disservice to every ratepayer in our state. Whether it is the family struggling to keep the lights on, our hospitals, the schools that are already facing budget cuts from legislative fallout or the municipalities weighing reduction in service or higher taxes, we can, and must, better serve them. This means our leaders have to commit to putting working Hoosiers first: not state sanctioned monopolies, not major corporations and not allegiances to Washington, D.C. And when our state's executive has shown that he is willing to be lockstep in the national endeavor to gut the mechanisms that protect lives from the fossil fuel industry, that cannot be ignored. Just weeks after the Trump administration vowed to drive 'a dagger through the heart of climate-change religion,' in response to overhauling the social cost of carbon, Gov. Mike Braun signed Executive Order 25-49, 'rejecting social cost of Greenhouse gases and climate action plans.' And just three days after the White House issued executive orders under the umbrella of the 'beautiful, clean coal' misnomer, Indiana followed suit with Executive Order 25-50, which potentially stalls the retirement plans of coal plants throughout Indiana. By disregarding the social cost of carbon while doubling down on coal to appease national political interests, Braun is not only defying decades of science — he is knowingly putting Hoosier families in harm's way and pretending not to see the damage. The social cost of carbon is more than just a number: It is the children growing up in already impoverished areas destined for worse health outcomes because of fossil fuel combustion, the increased risk of cancer from Indiana having more coal ash dumpsites than anywhere in the country, the 460,000 premature deaths caused by coal in the U.S. between 1999 and 2020 and all of the Hoosiers who will face that same outcome on our current path. We are vested with the responsibility to be the stewards of this land, to truly represent those we have been elected to serve and to deliver a future that is better than our present. It is past time that more leaders of our state live up to that obligation. Hoosiers do not have the time to wait. State Sen. Andrea Hunley, D-Indianapolis, is the ranking minority member of the Senate Committee on Utilities. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana utility bills keep going up despite GOP's promises | Opinion
Indianapolis Star
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Indianapolis Star
Indiana Republicans promise utility bill relief, but fail to deliver
Hoosiers deserve a legislature that works for them, not against them. In an economy riddled with day-to-day uncertainty, utility prices in our state soar at rates that outpace both wages and inflation, burdening families with a weight that is often too much to bear. The devastating reality of more than 174,000 of Indiana's underserved households losing access to power — sometimes during the most dangerously hot days of the year — forced Statehouse Republicans to enter the last session pledging that relief is on the way. Words are one thing, action is another. The utility legislation prioritized this session doesn't just continue the supermajority's pattern of promising financial relief and failing to deliver — it also unravels years of progress toward reducing coal dependence, forces ratepayers to fund projects that may never materialize and locks Indiana's natural environment even deeper into a dead-last national ranking. Furthermore, my efforts to assist Hoosiers by creating an option to expand the income-driven utility assistance program were shot down. It is a moral failure that we ask Hoosiers to fund nuclear research for large corporations. This failure is only amplified when we refuse to support families facing shutoff in a world where the summer's hottest days only get hotter every year. Briggs: Fishers, Carmel don't think renters deserve single-family homes With the threat of bill increases from Senate Bill 424, we are doing a disservice to every ratepayer in our state. Whether it is the family struggling to keep the lights on, our hospitals, the schools that are already facing budget cuts from legislative fallout or the municipalities weighing reduction in service or higher taxes, we can, and must, better serve them. This means our leaders have to commit to putting working Hoosiers first: not state sanctioned monopolies, not major corporations and not allegiances to Washington, D.C. And when our state's executive has shown that he is willing to be lockstep in the national endeavor to gut the mechanisms that protect lives from the fossil fuel industry, that cannot be ignored. Just weeks after the Trump administration vowed to drive 'a dagger through the heart of climate-change religion,' in response to overhauling the social cost of carbon, Gov. Mike Braun signed Executive Order 25-49, 'rejecting social cost of Greenhouse gases and climate action plans.' And just three days after the White House issued executive orders under the umbrella of the 'beautiful, clean coal' misnomer, Indiana followed suit with Executive Order 25-50, which potentially stalls the retirement plans of coal plants throughout Indiana. By disregarding the social cost of carbon while doubling down on coal to appease national political interests, Braun is not only defying decades of science — he is knowingly putting Hoosier families in harm's way and pretending not to see the damage. The social cost of carbon is more than just a number: It is the children growing up in already impoverished areas destined for worse health outcomes because of fossil fuel combustion, the increased risk of cancer from Indiana having more coal ash dumpsites than anywhere in the country, the 460,000 premature deaths caused by coal in the U.S. between 1999 and 2020 and all of the Hoosiers who will face that same outcome on our current path. We are vested with the responsibility to be the stewards of this land, to truly represent those we have been elected to serve and to deliver a future that is better than our present. It is past time that more leaders of our state live up to that obligation. Hoosiers do not have the time to wait.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Proposed Indiana nuclear plants are bait-and-switch scams
In a disturbing move, the Indiana General Assembly recently advanced several experimental nuclear power bills. As IndyStar's Karl Schneider has explained, House Bill 1007, Senate Bill 423 and Senate Bill 424 would let Indiana's for-profit electric companies undertake plans for small modular nuclear plants — while sticking ratepayers with billions in development costs, even if the plants never get built. Opinion: Indiana Republicans prioritize Illinois voters over Hoosiers These nuclear plants are a bait-and-switch. We're told we need them because new data centers are opening in Indiana. True, data centers are energy hogs. But the nukes won't be ready until the mid-2030s at the earliest. What will the data centers run on in the meantime? Hey, we'll just burn more coal and gas! Why not build more wind and solar instead? They're cheaper and they'd be ready far sooner. Paired with battery storage, they'd be a reliable resource for data center needs without the deadly pollution. Nuclear plants notoriously run behind schedule and over budget — until they get canned. Take the NuScale small-nuclear project in Idaho. The power supplier involved had to end NuScale's contract once development costs ballooned past $9.3 billion. The plant never even broke ground. These bills amount to a pricey, polluting scam. Peg Hausman lives in Bloomington. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Proposed Indiana nuclear plants are bait-and-switch scams | Letters
Yahoo
23-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Nurses staffing ratios bill shelved, ensuring further debate
STAR-ADVERTISER Nurses from Kapi 'olani Medical Center for Women and Children and The Queen's Medical Center held a joint informational picket in July along Punchbowl Street. STAR-ADVERTISER Nurses from Kapi 'olani Medical Center for Women and Children and The Queen's Medical Center held a joint informational picket in July along Punchbowl Street. A bill introduced in the state House of Representatives that would require nurse staffing standards for Hawaii hospitals statewide has been shelved, but debate is expected to continue. The bill, introduced by state Rep. Sean Quinlan (D, Waialua-Haleiwa-Kahuku-Kahana ) and representing more than 5, 000 nurses, sought to establish minimum nurse-to-patient staffing ratios, placing a limit on how many patients nurses care for at a time. It also would have required hospitals to create nurse staffing committees, with an appropriation of funds to the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations for enforcement. But after 90 minutes of testimony earlier this month, was deferred by the House Committees on Health and Labor chaired by Reps. Gregg Takayama (D, Pearl City-Pacific Palisades ) and Jackson Sayama (D, St. Louis Heights-Palolo-Kaimuki ). Hawaii Nurses' Association President Rosalee Agas-Yuu said the union was deeply disappointed because the deferral shut down the democratic process of bringing the bill to a vote. 'Safe staffing is a fundamental issue that affects all of us, and by refusing to allow a vote, policymakers are turning their backs on the very professionals who are the backbone of healthcare, ' she said in a written statement. 'Nurses are the experts in patient care, and (their ) voices deserve to be heard as they advocate for the community who are their patients, your constituents.' A companion bill, Senate Bill 424, was never scheduled for a hearing. A was also shelved early in the legislative process last year, but a resolution resulted in a detailed study on nurse staffing. Don 't miss out on what 's happening ! Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It 's FREE ! Email 28141 Sign Up By clicking to sign up, you agree to Star-Advertiser 's and Google 's and. This form is protected by reCAPTCHA. That study, 'Time for Triage, ' was recently published, and both nurses and hospital management have cited it as reasons for why the staffing bill would and would not benefit the state. Nurse-to-patient staffing ratios are an issue that union nurses have brought up time and again during lengthy contract negotiations with hospitals over the past year and a half, with stalemates triggering several strikes, a lockout at Kapi 'olani Medical Center for Women and Children, and a at The Queen's Medical Center. The debate is still playing out in current contract negotiations and is expected to be back again next year. A constant divide HB 1244 proposed minimum nurse staffing standards for registered nurses statewide, saying it would reduce turnover and 'ensure that patients receive the safe, timely care they deserve.' It outlined enforceable staffing ratios of 1-to-1 or 1-to-2, depending on the stability of patients, for intensive care units, neonatal ICUs, and neurological critical care and burn units. For emergency departments, it proposed a 1-to-1 ratio for trauma or critical care patients ; one nurse to no more than four patients over a 12-hour shift ; and one nurse to no more than five patients at a time. Ratios are also laid out for other units ranging from labor and delivery to psychiatric units, among others. Hospitals that do not comply would be fined, but would also be able to seek a variance. The measure was supported by HNA, Hawaii Nurses and Healthcare Professionals, UNAC /UHCP and many other unions, including United Public Workers and the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly. Supporters said chronic understaffing compromises safety, delays critical care and places stress on both patients and their families. They said studies have shown better staffing ratios lead to better patient outcomes, fewer medication errors and fewer readmissions. Dozens of individual nurses from Kaiser to Queen's sent written testimony sharing stories of how they were overburdened with too many patients and stretched to their limits, saying that in their experiences, hospitals are not following promised national standards. These standards need to be implemented statewide instead of through individual collective bargaining sessions, they said, particularly for nonunion nurses. HB 1244 was staunchly opposed by major hospital organizations, including The Queen's Health Systems, Maui Health and Hawaii Pacific Health-affiliated hospitals, including Kapi 'olani, Straub Benioff Medical Center, Pali Momi Medical Center and Wilcox Medical Center on Kauai. Linda Beechinor, vice president of the Hawaii chapter of the American Nurses Association, urged support for the bill, saying that the nursing workload is a wellness issue, directly impacting the ability to retain nurses. 'I implore you to listen to nurses who are telling you that their work conditions are untenable and we are advocating for patients, which is our professional, ethical duty, ' she testified before lawmakers. 'Hawaii-ANA respectfully requests that the committee members work with us to advocate for nurses and health workers' safe working conditions, and conditions that promote safe and optimal patient care.' Hawaii-ANA represents 17, 000 registered nurses living and working in the state. Those opposed said rigid patient-to-staff ratios would not solve the workforce shortage and that the 'cookie cutter ' approach would also make it difficult for hospitals to adjust to the dynamic and constantly shifting needs of patient care in every unit. Furthermore, they said many hospitals already follow national guidelines for appropriate staffing levels, and that these issues should be, and have been, worked out in collective bargaining agreements. The state DLIR opposed the bill, saying it lacks expertise on hospital staffing matters, and that this was an issue between employer and worker. Potential consequences Hospital management opposing the bill said potential consequences include delays in care, turning patients away or even closures of certain units. Joan Kanemori, Kapi 'olani chief nurse executive, said that as the state's only full-service newborn, maternity and pediatric hospital, it does not turn patients away. 'The bottom line is that strict adherence to the staffing ratios outlined in this bill will lead to delays in moving patients within the hospital and patients receiving the care they deserve, ' Kane mori testified in person. 'There will be longer wait times in the emergency department, backups for surgical recovery rooms and delays for patients from the neighbor islands when they require care within the hospital, including intensive care.' Hilton Raethel, president and CEO of the Healthcare Association of Hawaii, whose members include acute-care hospitals, skilled-nursing facilities and other health care providers, said experience in other states has shown rigid patient-to-staff ratios do not solve the nurse workforce shortage. 'We're very concerned that the current federal administration and Congress will further cut spending for nonprofit and safety net hospitals, ' he testified in person. 'Unlike private businesses, hospitals cannot readily raise prices to offset labor costs.' Instead, the state Legislature can continue to invest in programs at public high schools, community colleges and universities to boost the health care workforce. Mike Robinson, who testified on behalf of Straub Benioff, said 'fixed ratios do not magically create the workforce that's needed ' and would be challenging to establish in a fluid hospital setting. During the deadly New Year's fireworks explosion in Aliamanu, for example, Straub's burn unit, the only one in Hawaii and the Pacific, admitted 10 patients within an hour's time, and fixed staffing ratios would make responding to that kind of tragedy more difficult. Unions disputed this, however, saying nurses have, and always will, step up when emergencies like the fireworks explosion and Maui wildfires arise. Still negotiating HNA and Wilcox, meanwhile, are still in negotiations over a new contract, weeks after about 160 nurses there held a protesting unfair labor practices. The main point of contention, according to HNA, is staffing ratios, with nurses wanting a ratio of one nurse to five patients for the medical-surgical unit, which would be closer to standards on Oahu, rather than a 1-to-6 ratio. Negotiations between the two parties began in early May and the contract expired Aug. 31. The Kauai County Council supported the nurses with earlier this month urging the Legislature to implement safer nurse-to-patient staffing requirements for hospitals, the Garden Island reported. Catherine Sataraka, director of patient safety and quality at Wilcox, opposed the bill. 'As Wilcox is in the process of negotiating its labor contract, ' she wrote in testimony, 'the introduction of statutory provisions during these negotiations would establish an inappropriate precedent that would have far reaching implications across the continuum of care in our state.' HNA also began negotiations recently with the North Hawaii Community Hospital run by Queen's in Waimea on Hawaii island. Agas-Yuu said the unions will continue their advocacy for a statewide staffing bill. 'A lot of heart and soul went into it by a lot of people, ' she said. 'I see the positive as each year goes by because more people are starting to understand it. Now we have communities rallying for it.'
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Indiana's nuclear power legislation places costs on customers, advocates say
Indiana lawmakers want the state to lead the way in developing small module nuclear reactors, but consumer advocates say proposed legislation will leave Hoosiers stuck with the bill for the new and unproven technology. A series of bills introduced this year would provide Indiana's monopoly utilities the ability to recover development costs of these small reactors. Those costs, critics say, will show up on Hoosier's monthly energy bills — even if the reactors are never built and never provide any electricity. Small module nuclear reactors are much smaller than full-scale nuclear plants, but cost estimates can run into the billions for a completed reactor. Senate bills 423, 424 and House Bill 1007 all provide utilities options to make customers pay back at least some of the costs incurred before construction even begins. Kerwin Olson, executive director of Citizens Action Coalition, said the bills shift 100% of the risk of the to Hoosier customers. 'In three different bills we have language to force ratepayers to pay these project development costs — not only before a utility gets approval, but even before they file for approval,' Olson said. 'It's simply outrageous we would allow the investor-owned utilities to put that burden on the backs of ratepayers.' Sen. Eric Koch, R-Bedford, introduced SB 424, which allows utilities to petition the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission for project development costs of SMRs and ultimately recoup those costs through ratepayer bills. Indiana lawmakers in 2022 paved the way for SMRs in the state with a policy that set rules for proposals. 'Senate Bill 424 builds upon that policy by extending recovery for preconstruction and development costs, which is very important to incentivize SMRs,' Koch said. The two senate bills have passed through that chamber and been sent to the House, while HB1007 is scheduled for another committee hearing. 2022 law: A bill would pave the way for nuclear power in Indiana -- at a cost to consumers Mark Nichol with the Nuclear Energy Institute told lawmakers demand and interest in SMRs is quickly accelerating. Large energy customers, like data centers, are moving into Indiana and in some cases will double the power demand from regional utilities. While data centers are built rather quickly, SMRs are projected to be much slower to come online. It could take 10 years to get an SMR built once a project kicks off, Nichol said, but policy conditions aren't right to enable these projects to begin. 'I do think it is a bit slower if you don't pass the legislation,' Nichol said. 'The biggest challenge is you may find yourself acting too slowly and getting left behind.' Building reactors means developing a workforce and acquiring supplies, which are real constraints for projects, and Nichol said those who aren't at the front of the queue may have to wait to deploy the reactors. Steve Baker, president and CEO of Indiana Michigan Power, told lawmakers his company is on the verge of explosive load growth in its service territory with the construction of data centers and is determining how to best serve those large customers. It took I&M 120 years to gradually build out its current energy portfolio, which reaches a peak demand of about 4 gigawatts, Baker said. The new data centers and other projects being built will require 4.5 gigawatts of new energy in the next five years. The utility has done some things to address this demand, Baker said, but there is a real opportunity with SMRs. 'We think new nuclear technology," he said, "has a role to serve.' Consumer and environmental advocates oppose the new Indiana bills. Some say Indiana should wait until the technology is tested and proven effective. The legislation would create a path to socializing the risks while privatizing the profits utilities stand to gain, said Shannon Anderson from Earth Charter Indiana. 'It's an interesting choice for (lawmakers) to bank state money and consumer money on unproven pieces of technology,' Anderson said. There are only a handful of fully operational SMRs in the world today, and none of them are in the U.S., though some companies are trying to put them in the ground. Duke Energy, based in North Carolina, is developing a SMR that originally had a proposed $75 million price tag on its development costs. That number has since ballooned to $365 million. These are the kind of development costs Hoosier ratepayers may be on the hook to cover, and include evaluation and design costs, federal approvals, environmental analysis, site permits and other expenditures. The bills lawmakers are putting forward are evidence of the financial risks of SMRs, Olson said. Utilities would be able to recoup the pre-planning costs before even applying for approval of a project. 'Utilities are just simply unwilling to bear that risk because the markets aren't willing to bear the risk' Olson said. Investors, bond holders and the company should be providing the capital to run the utility, but, in large part, bills like these create unaffordable utility bills for Hoosiers, Olson said. Sam Carpenter with the Hoosier Environmental Council echoed concerns about the financial burden Hoosiers could face. 'It is not appropriate to put somebody who is trying to cover their basic expenses and have them take the risk to pay for development planning on unproven technology," Carpenter said. Delaney Barber Kwon with Indiana Conservation Voters said the legislation in Indiana is concerning because it mirrors the legislation passed in South Carolina in 2008 that allowed a utility there to charge its customers for a failed full-scale nuclear project. Those South Carolina residents are still paying for a reactor the utility provider never built. The bills homeowners pay there were increased by 5.6% to pay for the failed project, according to the South Caroline Daily Gazette. This fee is meant to pay off the utility's $2.3 billion debt from the project. That plan was for a full-scale nuclear plant, but Barber Kwon said a small module nuclear reactor project in Utah also was abandoned last year after cost estimates tripled. It was going to be the first SMR built in the U.S., but the project was abandoned after costs grew too high. 'SMRs as a whole is not something that Indiana Conservation Voters is opposed to, but this is still experimental technology and it's going to take a long time to actually implement and get it to a place where it could really work in Indiana,' Barber Kwon said. Opposing the bills is not an indictment of nuclear power in the state, critics said, but about how new projects are funded. 'The opposition is about customers,' Olson said. 'The risk is enormous, that's why they have that language in three bills.' IndyStar's environmental reporting project is made possible through the generous support of the nonprofit Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust. Karl Schneider is an IndyStar environment reporter. You can reach him at Follow him on BlueSky @ This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana's nuclear energy bills dump costs on customers, advocates say
