NIPSCO has filed plans to turn the site of its Schahfer Generating Station in Wheatfield into a natural gas plant as part of plans to match the energy demands of Indiana’s emerging data centers. Photo from Christopher Light, Google Photos.

News Release

WHEATFIELD — Merrillville-based Northern Indiana Public Service Co., or NIPSCO, has filed plans with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management Monday, Sept. 22 to construct a 2,300-megawatt facility at the R.M. Schahfer Generating Station in Wheatfield. The proposal calls for four combined-cycle combustion turbines with electrical generators and heat recovery steam units, according to state filings.

The utility company confirmed it has entered into a contract to serve at least one data center customer but has not disclosed further details. The company also has not released a cost estimate or construction timeline for the project, which is set to meet rising power demand for new data centers.

The move continues NIPSCO’s shift away from coal. The utility is preparing to retire its coal-fired units at the Schahfer site and has already announced plans for a $644 million natural gas peaker unit there. The new facility would significantly expand capacity, positioning the utility to supply large-scale energy needs tied to data center growth.

If approved, the Jennings County plant would represent one of the largest natural gas projects in Indiana in recent years and mark another step in the state’s changing energy landscape as utilities balance new industrial demand with the transition from coal.

Still, the effort as planned would create the third-most greenhouse gas emissions of any industrial plant in Indiana. Air permits show the equivalent of 7 million tons of carbon dioxide would be released into the air yearly — an amount only surpassed by Gary’s U.S. Steel Gary Works and the Gibson Duke Energy coal plant.