Harding Street Station

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Harding Street Station is a retired power station in Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana, United States. It is also known as E.W. Stout Generating Station.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Harding Street Station Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana, United States 39.709253, -86.196097 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the power station.

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Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):

  • Unit 5, Unit 6, Unit 7: 39.709253, -86.196097

Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name Status Fuel(s) Capacity (MW) Technology Start year Retired year
Unit 5 retired coal: bituminous 100 subcritical 1958 2015
Unit 6 retired coal: bituminous 100 subcritical 1961 2015
Unit 7 retired coal: bituminous 463 subcritical 1973 2016

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name Owner Parent
Unit 5 Indianapolis Power & Light Co [100%] AES Corp [100.0%]
Unit 6 Indianapolis Power & Light Co [100%] AES Corp [100.0%]
Unit 7 Indianapolis Power & Light Co [100%] AES Corp [100.0%]

Retirement

In May 2013, IPL announced plans to refuel two of the three coal-fired Harding units to gas by April 2016 (Units 5 and 6, but not Unit 7).[1][2]

In August 2014 the company said it would convert all three of the station's coal-fired units to natural gas by 2016.[3]

The plant stopped burning coal in February 2016, with a planned conversion to run on natural gas by April 2016.[4]

Emissions Data

  • 2006 CO2 Emissions: 3,941,524 tons
  • 2006 SO2 Emissions: 46,346 tons
  • 2006 SO2 Emissions per MWh:
  • 2006 NOx Emissions: 4,336 tons
  • 2005 Mercury Emissions: 131 lb.

Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Harding Street

In 2010, Abt Associates issued a study commissioned by the Clean Air Task Force, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, quantifying the deaths and other health effects attributable to fine particle pollution from coal-fired power plants.[5] Fine particle pollution consists of a complex mixture of soot, heavy metals, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides. Among these particles, the most dangerous are those less than 2.5 microns in diameter, which are so tiny that they can evade the lung's natural defenses, enter the bloodstream, and be transported to vital organs. Impacts are especially severe among the elderly, children, and those with respiratory disease. The study found that over 13,000 deaths and tens of thousands of cases of chronic bronchitis, acute bronchitis, asthma, congestive heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, dysrhythmia, ischemic heart disease, chronic lung disease, and pneumonia each year are attributable to fine particle pollution from U.S. coal plant emissions. These deaths and illnesses are major examples of coal's external costs, i.e. uncompensated harms inflicted upon the public at large. Low-income and minority populations are disproportionately impacted as well, due to the tendency of companies to avoid locating power plants upwind of affluent communities. To monetize the health impact of fine particle pollution from each coal plant, Abt assigned a value of $7,300,000 to each 2010 mortality, based on a range of government and private studies. Valuations of illnesses ranged from $52 for an asthma episode to $440,000 for a case of chronic bronchitis.[6]

Table 1: Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Harding Street Station

Type of Impact Annual Incidence Valuation
Deaths 76 $560,000,000
Heart attacks 120 $13,000,000
Asthma attacks 1,300 $66,000
Hospital admissions 55 $1,300,000
Chronic bronchitis 46 $21,000,000
Asthma ER visits 78 $29,000

Source: "Find Your Risk from Power Plant Pollution," Clean Air Task Force interactive table, accessed March 2011

Coal Waste Sites

EPA "high hazard" dam

In November 2011, the EPA released a new set of coal waste data that revealed 181 “significant” hazard dams in 18 states - more than three times the 60 significant-hazard ponds listed in the original database released in 2009. In addition to the increase in the number of significant hazard-rated ponds, eight previously unrated coal ash ponds were found to be high hazard ponds in information released by the EPA earlier in 2011. Because of the switch in ratings after the EPA inspections, the total number of high hazard ponds has stayed roughly the same at a total of 47 ponds nationwide.[7]

According to the National Inventory of Dams (NID) criteria, “high” hazard coal ash ponds are categorized as such because their failure will likely cause loss of human life. Six states that gained high hazard ponds include:[7]

Articles and Resources

References

  1. "HOMENEWSIPL ANNOUNCES PLANS TO BUILD STATE-OF-THE-ART POWER PLANT," IPL press release, May 1, 2013. Note that in its press release the company referred to "six existing units" at the Eagle Valley Station.
  2. "AES to shut or convert coal power plants in Indiana and Ohio," Reuters, May 13, 2013.
  3. "IPL plans to convert Harding Street coal-fired power plant to natural gas," AP, Aug 15, 2014.
  4. Alex Brown "IPL Ends Coal Burning at Harding Street," Inside Indiana Business, Feb 26, 2016
  5. "The Toll from Coal: An Updated Assessment of Death and Disease from America's Dirtiest Energy Source," Clean Air Task Force, September 2010.
  6. "Technical Support Document for the Powerplant Impact Estimator Software Tool," Prepared for the Clean Air Task Force by Abt Associates, July 2010
  7. 7.0 7.1 Ken Ward Jr., "EPA data reveals more dangerous coal ash ponds" Coal Tattoo, Oct. 31, 2011.

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of coal-fired power stations, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.