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NIPSCO sent its new strategy for electricity generation and transmission to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission on Wednesday, formally submitting a plan to retire its coal-fired R.M. Schahfer Generating Station in Wheatfield and the Michigan City coal plant.

The utility intends to replace coal with renewable sources, including solar and wind. NIPSCO President Violet Sistovaris said the decision to retire the four coal-fired generators at Schahfer by 2023 and one at Michigan City by 2028 was a result of the utility's investigation of the most cost-effective, reliable and environmentally sustainable means to deliver power to its customers.

"Of late, what we're seeing is that our customer needs have really changed, and the energy market has really changed," Sistovaris said. "All indications are that the energy market is going to continue to change for the next decade and beyond."

Also on Wednesday, NIPSCO submitted a request to increase electric rates, a move the company said is necessary to upgrade infrastructure, address changes in federal tax policy, and change the way it charges large industrial customers. The new rates, once fully implemented, would increase an average residential customer's bill by $11 a month, or about 12 percent.