State Rep. Ed Soliday, Republican-Valparaiso, has introduced legislation to prevent utilities from shutting down coal-fired units and switching to newer and cleaner technologies unless they can prove to state regulators such closures are required by a federal mandate or are in the public interest, the Indianapolis Business Journal reported.

Many observers said Soliday’s bill would interfere in business operations of Indiana utilities. Critics also said the bill would hurt the environment and consumers and would keep utilities from modernizing their power plants.

His bill introduced last week comes as Indiana utilities are planning to retire more coal-fired units in favor of cleaner and cheaper fuel, including natural gas. The bill was sent to a legislative committee for review.

The Business Journal reported Indiana had 26 coal-fired generating units in 2010. By 2016, that total had dropped to 13 and could drop by another 10 by 2028. Coal accounts for 60% of Indiana’s electricity generation in 2018.

Last year, Soliday led an unsuccessful effort to adopt a two-year moratorium of new large power plants. It came under fire from utilities, environmentalists and consumer groups. It was widely seen as an attempt to delay plans by utilities to retire coal-fired generating units.