Colder winter weather helped draw down coal inventories at Duke Energy Indiana by five days, according to a recent filing.
Brett Phipps, a managing director of fuel procurement for Duke, told the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission that DEI's coal inventories fell from 3.27 million st, or a 60-day supply, on November 30, 2017, to 3 million st, or a 55-day supply, as of February 28, 2018.
The decrease "can be attributed to a combination of strong burns during the winter months and weather challenges that resulted in reduced deliveries," said Phipps.
DEI projects coal deliveries to increase over the next quarter.
The recently concluded winter was one of the coldest in several years across much of the Illinois Basin, with frost warnings still being issued in late April in parts of the region.
Despite the drawdown in stockpiles, Phipps said the company did not award any supply contracts off a formal request for proposals issued in February 2018.
For the 12-month period ending February 28, DEI purchased approximately 12.2 million st of coal, both under long-term and short-term contract commitments, at an approximate average cost of $2.03/MMBtu, he said.
The delivered cost of coal bought under long-term commitments averaged $2.03/MMBtu and comprised 96.4% of all receipts, while the delivered cost of coal purchased under short-term commitments averaged $2.18/MMBtu.
DEI's Gibson, Cayuga and Edwardsport power plants continue to be supplied by long-term agreements. Meanwhile, the utility's Gallagher station will continue to be supplied by spot purchases depending on how much Gallagher's units operate.
