EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) – The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission will now head into the second phase of their energy affordability discussion.
State utility companies, including CenterPoint Energy, were questioned by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission during an investigative inquiry Tuesday.
[Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission hosts investigative inquiry into energy companies]
CenterPoint presented on what they’re doing to help high energy bills.
But the message from commissioners was clear – customers are struggling.
“I’d invite any of you to come to basketball games with me, or baseball games, or football games,” Commissioner Bob Deig said during the hearing. “Because everybody wants to come sit with me and talk about rates. About their energy rates.”
That was only Phase One of their plan to address affordability.
In the next phase, commissioners want to hear directly from ratepayers statewide, including here in Evansville.
“I don’t know exactly what the expectations were coming in, but I think it was a great first step. And now, as we begin the listening tour, and we’ll be down in your neighborhood on April 7th. We’ll put all that together to come up with some outcomes, some results, and potentially some action steps,” IURC Chairman Andy Zay said.
In order to come up with effective solutions, the commission wants to know exactly how high bills have affected lives.
“I want copies of bills, I want examples of where people have really been hit by this affordability crisis. Where there might be customer service concerns or anything like those,” Zay said.
Once these listening sessions are complete, commissioners hope to roll out short-term solutions by the summer, such as asking utility companies to boost their customer assistance programs.
Commissioners will also decide on long-term solutions, like if they find any cause for further investigation into utility companies like CenterPoint.
“This will help us narrow down exactly what we would investigate, and try and hold the utilities accountable to and work towards a solution. Whether it was a customer service, whether it was a specific rate request, or something that we might bring forward,” Zay said.
Commissioners want to remind people that they can’t fix utility rates right now if they are already signed into law.
Governor Mike Braun responded to Tuesday’s investigative inquiry with a statement.
He said, in part,
“I want to strongly praise Chairman Zay and the entire Commission for taking a hard stand and demanding real accountability. They asked the tough questions and made it clear that automatic pass-throughs and unchecked hikes are no longer acceptable. Residential electric rates have climbed 28.9 percent since 2014 — far outpacing inflation and our peer states. Hoosier families have had enough.”
The listening session will be on Tuesday, April 7 at Old National Events Plaza from 6:00-8:00 p.m.
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