Two big announcements

A couple of important and big announcements were made on Wednesday. First, SJC announced that it had reached an agreement with its main creditor to restructure its debt. The terms of the agreement remain confidential, but SJC will retain its campus, Lake Banet, and some surrounding property in addition to the Waugh Farms (which it cannot legally sell).

In an article in the Lafayette Journal and Courier, Michael Kohlman said that the debt was not wiped out but some remains, but the College officials think it is manageable. Also, the College will lose land as a result.

The agreement will allow the College to use the campus for sports camps and other events. What comes next is unclear. The goal of reopening as a college faces serious headwinds because the college market is in trouble. The rise of on-line education has one Harvard Business professor predicting that half of the nation's colleges will fold or be merged in the next ten years. In the past week another college in Indiana closed. Harrison College, with branches in several places including Lafayette, shut down.

A much bigger announcement came out this week from NIPSCO. It had been planning to shut down two of the four generating units at the Schahfer Plant near Wheatfield, but is now saying that it plans to shut down all four units no later than 2023. County officials have been concerned about the impact of just the two units on County finances; NIPSCO pays about 20% of the property taxes in the County. The closure of the Schahfer Plant is likely to have a much bigger adverse effect on the County than the closure of Saint Joseph's College.

In a FAQ of September 19, NIPSCO says that "the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) must approve any requests for electric generation unit retirements", so a shutdown by 2023 is not certain. As to where the electricity will come from to replace that lost by the closing of the Schahfer Plant, the company says, "Likely replacement options point toward lower-cost renewable energy resources such as wind, solar and battery storage technology," and "Replacement plans for the retired coal generating units are still being evaluated.  Currently, the most viable replacement options point toward the addition of largely renewable energy resources, with the combination of battery storage technology. "

I do not believe that the current economics of renewables and battery storage justify the closure, but NIPSCO seems to be betting that those economics will be much better in five years. Currently if you wish to get "green" energy from NIPSCO, you must pay extra. (This option is for people who do not realize that electricity is fungible.)

My last post raised the question of who is building the assisted-living complex east of Strack and Van Til. The owner is Autumn Trace. The company currently operates two similar facilities, one in Attica and the other in Linton. There are four others under construction, in Madison, North Vernon, Plymouth, and Rensselaer. If I remember correctly, the owners of the company said that they had sold a retirement-home business but then decided to get back in the business. The fact that they sold an existing business would give them the funds and credibility to have four units under construction.