Three years after requesting a state permit, Richmond Power and Light continues waiting for approval of its coal combustion residual safety plan.
General Manager Tony Foster updated the RP&L board, which is comprised of Richmond Common Council members, on the program’s status during the board’s Oct. 5 meeting. The Environmental Protection Agency adopted in 2014 regulations for treatment of the coal ash created by coal-fired power plants.
RP&L developed a containment plan for the coal ash at its U.S. 27 location that includes building a slurry wall and installing a cap. A permit request was submitted to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management in August 2023.
During April 2026, RP&L received feedback from IDEM; however, it learned in August that the EPA was reviewing IDEM’s permit program. That program’s September approval is followed by a 60-day window for public comment, leading up to the EPA conducting a November public hearing.
The result: RP&L still waits for IDEM to approve its permit application for the nearly $30 million project.
The board approved Foster’s recommendation to award Wetzel Ford the bid for $38,665 to provide RP&L’s engineering department a compact pickup truck. Wetzel was the only bidder.
Foster also noted that RP&L personnel taught Richmond Police Department’s SWAT team how to safely remove a meter and that RP&L’s Caleb Barrett and Matt Stainbrook won the cornhole competition during a lineworker appreciation day hosted by Indiana Municipal Power Agency.
A version of this article appeared in the October 14 2026 print edition of the Western Wayne News.
