Pierce welcomes IURC investigation, calls on IURC to include IGA-passed legislation in study
Today, Feb. 25, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) announced an "Investigative Inquiry on Energy Affordability" on March 24 calling in the five largest investor-owned utilities in the state to present on various topics related to energy affordability.
The five utilities that will be presenting include AES Indiana, CenterPoint Energy Indiana, Duke Energy Indiana, LLC, Indiana Michigan Power Company, and Northern Indiana Public Service Company, LLC.
State Rep. Matt Pierce (D-Bloomington), ranking Democrat on the House Utilities, Energy and Telecommunications Committee, called on the IURC to expand the scope of its investigation to include the impact on rates of legislation passed by the Indiana General Assembly.
"I am pleased the IURC is responding to Hoosiers' concerns about skyrocketing utility bills, but this investigation will be incomplete if it doesn't include an honest assessment of how policies adopted by the Indiana House and Senate have contributed to unaffordable bills," Pierce said.
Pierce called on the IURC to include the following legislation in its inquiry:
Senate Enrolled Act 560 (2013) created the Transmission, Distribution, and Storage Improvement (TDSIC) charge allowing utilities to immediately charge consumers for 80% of the cost of system improvements without going through a rate case.
House Enrolled Act 1470 (2019) reversed a court ruling that the IURC had been too generous in approving TDSIC requests by the utilities, including approving items that did not benefit consumers. The legislature quickly rewrote the TDSIC laws to ensure the utilities received what they requested.
HEA 1417 (2023) overturned a Supreme Court decision that ruled the IURC had improperly allowed customers to be charged for $212 million in coal-ash cleanup.
SEA 340 (2014) and SEA 412 (2015) killed Indiana's energy efficiency program, Energizing Indiana, that benefited consumers by reducing consumption by 399,432 megawatt hours of electricity (enough to power 37,886 homes for a year), and offered assistance with weatherizing homes and purchasing energy efficient appliances.
SEA 309 (2017) ended net metering in Indiana, making it more difficult for Hoosiers to produce their own energy through rooftop solar.
HEA 1420 (2023) gave monopoly utilities a right of first refusal to control construction of expensive transmission lines rather than allowing outside companies to competitively bid on these projects ultimately paid for by utility customers.
HEA 1421 (2023) and SEA 271 (2022) allow construction work in progress (CWIP) for natural gas and small modular reactors. This forces customers to pay for generation plants before they provide any power and shifts the risk of cost overruns onto the backs of utility customers.
"Decades of Republican-controlled utility policy has led us to where we are today," Pierce said. "At every turn, the Statehouse Republican supermajority chose the profit margins of investor-owned utility companies over everyday Hoosiers. The IURC should not ignore the actions of the General Assembly that have opened the door to higher utility rates."