| Bailly Generating Station | |
| Country: | United States |
| Location: | Burns Harbor, Indiana |
| Coordinates: | 41.6433°N -87.1228°W |
| Owner: | Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) |
| Operator: | Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) |
| Status: | D |
| Th Fuel Primary: | Coal |
| Ps Cooling Source: | Lake Michigan |
| Ps Electrical Capacity: | 604 |
| Commissioned: | Unit 1: 1962 Unit 2: 1968 |
| Decommissioned: | Units 1–2: May 31, 2018 |
The Bailly Generating Station was a 604 megawatt (MW) coal power plant located in Burns Harbor, Indiana, on the shore of Lake Michigan adjacent to the Port of Indiana. The plant, which began operation in 1962[1] and tripled its capacity in 1968, is owned and operated by the Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO), an electric-utility operating division of the energy holding company NiSource.[1] The plant ceased coal-fired electrical generation on May 31, 2018.
The Bailly Station is named in honor of Joseph Bailly, a fur trader and pioneer settler of northwest Indiana. It is located in an industrial park sited within the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. The plant's 300-acre site[1] reflects a belief, held by the state of Indiana and the United States Congress in the early 1960s, that the Dunes-Lake Michigan shoreline should be shared between environmental preservation and heavy industry.
Since January 2011, Bailly has operated under the terms of a legal settlement between NIPSCO and the United States Environmental Protection Agency in compliance with the Clean Air Act.[1] Under the terms of the settlement, NiSource would have been required to invest approximately $200 million in new capital infrastructure to be retrofitted onto Bailly to capture sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide .
Citing growing environmental and regulatory burdens, NIPSCO announced plans in August 2016 to shut down the Bailly Generating Plant.[2] The Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) approved of the shut down in December 2016 after it was determined the plant's future closure would not affect the grid's reliability.[3] The plant shut down electrical generation from coal on May 31, 2018. Nevertheless, the site will continue to operate a natural gas peaker plant.[4]