INDIANAPOLIS — AES Indiana has filed a settlement in the Regulatory Rate Review request with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.
The settlement comes after AES Indiana reached a unanimous agreement with the Office of Utility Consumer Counselor and six intervening parties, which represent the interests of residential, commercial, industrial and low-income customers.
If the settlement is improved, AES Indiana says it will enable the company to "execute on its investments focused on reliability, resiliency and customer experience, and recover inflationary impact of cost increases since our last rate case," which happened in 2017.
According to AES Indiana, a residential customer using 1,000 kWH a month will see a $9.52 increase, or approximately 7.3%, under the new rates. The original rate increase was approximately $17, or 13%.
AES Indiana says the residential rates will be among the lowest of the investor-owned electric utilities in the state.
"We have a commitment to our customers and community to ensure safe, reliable electricity at an affordable price," said Ken Zagzebski, president and CEO of AES Utilities. "This agreement is a critical step forward to make certain the necessary investments continue, creating meaningful reliability improvements in how we serve our customers."
AES Indiana cited several customer benefits under the new settlement:
- Elimination of customer disconnections on Fridays, weekends and certain holidays
- Increased investments in vegetation management
- Greater protections for customers with medical alerts
The company said it will also contribute $50,000 in 2024 to the "Power of Change" program, as well as $50,000 to the Indiana Community Action Association.
An evidentiary hearing is scheduled for the week of Dec. 19.
To see how much the increase could cost you, click here for the AES calculator.
The Citizens Action Coalition released the following statement Monday morning after the settlement was announced:
"We are pleased to join the settlement reached in the current AES Indiana rate case docketed before the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (“IURC”) as Cause No. 45911. We believe the proposed settlement reflects a positive outcome for customers that may not have been achieved through litigation. If approved by the IURC, the settlement will reduce AES Indiana’s rate of return on equity, or profit, and will allow a much smaller increase to the monthly fixed customer charge than what was proposed by the Company.
Importantly, AES-IN residential ratepayers will realize a far lower increase to monthly bills than what the Company initially sought. Other numerous and significant terms were secured that bring great benefits to residential customers, including terms obtained specific for low-income customers and vulnerable households.
Among the terms benefiting all customers are: (1) AES agrees to NOT disconnect households on Fridays, Weekends, and major Holidays; (2) the waiving of late fees for all customers once in a rolling 12-month period; (3) a reduction in the amount collected from customers for rate case expenses and membership dues in trade associations; (4) eliminating any charge for remote disconnections and reducing the proposed charge for remote reconnections from $8 to $3.
Among the terms that will benefit low-income and vulnerable households are: (1) a reduction to any deposit charged to a LIHEAP qualified household to $50; (2) a waiver of any reconnection fees charged to LIHEAP households once in a rolling 12-month period; and (3) increasing the current 20-day protection from disconnection for low-income medical alert customers to 40 days.
CAC recommends that the IURC approves the settlement as filed and wishes to express our gratitude to AES and the other settling parties, most notably to the Office of Utility Consumer Counselor (“OUCC”)."