Big electric monopolies and their largest customers are gearing up for radical electric deregulation. The public must act now to protect affordable electric rates and a clean environment.

For the last sixty years, the primary goal of electric energy policy has been "Universal Service," or ensuring that everyone has access to enough electricity to meet their needs and that it is available at affordable rates that are just and reasonable. Over the last two decades, reducing environmental pollution from the generation of electricity has also become very important. Now, big electric monopolies and their largest customers want to turn electric energy policy on its head in order to make bigger profits at the expense of small customers and the environment.

Electric deregulation/restructuring bills have been introduced each of the last two years in the Indiana General Assembly on behalf of two Ohio-based monopoly electric utilities CINergy and American Electric Power (AEP) and their large industrial allies. The CINergy and AEP bills would not have created a robust competitive environment in Indiana as the companies claimed; instead, they would have:

• Removed important consumer protections and effectively eliminated "universal service."
  
• Allowed the shifting of costs to residential customers through "special contracts" and other sweetheart" deals for large industrial customers.
  
• Prevented residential consumers from having any meaningful choice of utility providers for many years and would not have ensured that customers have the information they needed to make those choices.
  
• Created an unfair market advantage for out-of-state utilities like CINergy and AEP at the expense of Indiana-based utilities and other competitors.

However, because this anti-consumer legislation failed to pass in 1997 and 1998, CINergy, AEP, and their large customer allies are now trying to entice the three Indiana based utilities,, NIPSCO, IPL, and SIGECO to join their ranks for the 1999 General Assembly. All five of the large, investor-owned electric monopolies that serve Indiana are now meeting in private to craft a new deregulation scheme!

These giants are also preparing to bring all of their lobbying and political power to bear on your state legislators. In the past when big electric monopolies and their largest customers have pushed major legislation, they have started lobbying legislators six months or more ahead of time, working for promises of support from lawmakers on legislation that has not even been written yet!

Deregulation schemes crafted solely by utility monopolies will put your right to affordable rates, universal service and a clean environment at risk. Only true reform, crafted with public input and in the public interest, can protect affordable rates, universal service, and the environment.

Consumers must speak out now to keep affordable electric rates and a clean environment. Please act today to protect affordable rates, universal service, and the environment!

Monopoly utility lobbyists and their special interest money may already be at work trying to get your legislator to commit to radical electric deregulation schemes. Only true reform of the monopoly electric industry, crafted with public input and in the public interest, can protect affordable rates, universal service, and the environment. To ensure that any legislative proposal will result in true reform and not sham deregulation, it must do the following:

1. Protect "Universal Service". All consumers, especially senior citizens and households on a fixed income, must continue to have access to enough electricity to meet their needs and that it is available at affordable rates that are just and reasonable. This includes creating new safeguards to protect those customers that the "free market" may fail to serve.
   
2. Guarantee real and significant savings for all customers. The whole point of restructuring the electric industry is to create efficiencies and savings. Those savings must be shared with residential customers and must be guaranteed up front.
   
3. Prevent monopoly abuses. Monopoly functions such as electric transmission and distribution lines must continue to be regulated. Electric generators should "divest" or sell off any parts of the business that will remain a monopoly for any length of time or which could be used to keep other generators from competing for customers.
   
4. Improve the environment. All electricity generators must be held to the same environmental standards and those standards should not allow generators to pollute more tomorrow than they do today. Policies that promote environmentally friendly power and allow it to compete on an even playing field must be implemented and enforced. Subsidies for nuclear plants must be eliminated.
   
5. Create real and significant choices for all customers. Any plan to change the electric industry must ensure that there will be multiple providers for residential customers to choose from, that those providers will offer new options and services, and that consumers will have the information they need to make those choices wisely.
   
6. Ensure real competition develops before deregulation occurs. Only the checks and balances of real and robust competition in partnership with protection of universal service can take the place of regulation when dealing with the special interest money and power of electric monopolies.

Please call or write your legislators today!
Ask your State Senator and Representative to tell the lobbyists for electric monopolies that making premature commitments on electric utility deregulation is unacceptable! Urge lawmakers to only support real reform, after it has been publicly debated and only if it meets the public interest criteria above.

You may contact your legislators in care of:
Indiana Statehouse ,
Indianapolis, IN 46204

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