Cinergy Agrees to Settle for $1.4 Billion

Cinergy Corp. has agreed to a $1.4 billion settlement of a lawsuit over alleged illegal pollution from its coal-burning power plants. The settlement is the result of a four-year investigation by the Environmental Protection Agency involving some of the country's largest electric utilities.

The agency said the utility failed to update its older coal-fired plants with the required pollution-control equipment.

Cinergy’s settlement includes an $8.5 million fine, with most of the $1.4 billion spent on environmental improvements at 10 plants in Indiana and Ohio, despite Cinergy's denial of violating the Clean Air Act.

James Rogers, Cinergy chairman, says the settlement will allow the company to gain certainty regarding future projects and to help reduce emissions. Rogers adds that the projects under the settlement are in line with the environmental requirements they are expected to face over the next 15 years.

In Cinergy’s case, the lawsuit claimed that the two operating companies in Ohio and Indiana over the past 15 years have "undertaken at least 38 substantial modifications" that increased the amount of pollution coming from the plants "without taking steps to minimize these increased emissions."