603 E. Washington Street, Suite 502; Indianapolis, IN 46204 Phone: (317) 205-3535 Fax: (317) 205-3599 Indiana’s oldest and largest consumer and environmental rights organization. Hoosiers working for Hoosiers.
The evidence is mounting that the interests of residential and small
business ratepayers are not being adequately protected by the Indiana
Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC). The IURC is charged by State
law to equally balance the interests of ALL ratepayers with those of the
utility. However, it is clear that the IURC is placing the profits of
monopoly utility companies and “cheap” rates for large industrial
ratepayers over small businesses and homeowners having access to
affordable energy.
Duke Energy is building a new coal-gasification plant in Edwardsport, IN. The cost thus far has reached $2.88 billion and Duke ratepayers are facing an enormous increase in rates to build this unnecessary plant.
A recently filed settlement agreement with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission between Duke and the Office of Utility Consumer Counselor dealing with the cost of the plant is a terrible deal for ratepayers.
To read more about the most recent happenings regarding Duke Energy, the IURC, and the Edwardsport plant, click here for our factsheet.
Indiana Michigan Power wants the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to let them raise your base rates by an unwarranted $147.8 million, and the rate hikes won't stop there!
Vectren has the highest utility rates in the state, and now they want even more of your money! Come to the public field hearing in Evansville on November 28 and have your voice heard in this case!
CHOICE is Community and Home Options to Institutional Care for the Elderly and Disabled. For over a decade, the CHOICE
home care program has served tens of thousands of Hoosiers and their family caregivers. In 2012, funding for CHOICE is once again in jeopardy and will hurt Hoosiers in need of serv ices now!
Leucadia Corporation wants to build and own a coal-to-gas plant in Spencer County, just outside of Rockport,
IN. The plant is designed to convert coal into pipeline quality gas, called substitute natural gas or SNG.
After negotiations between Leucadia and Indiana’s major gas utilities failed, Governor Daniels introduced
legislation in 2009 (SB 423) to have the State sign a contract with Leucadia to force ratepayers to finance
construction of the plant.
Without knowing the real final costs of the project, Leucadia claims that this is a great deal for consumers. Regardless of the cost of natural gas on the market, 17% of every utility bill
will be sent to Leucadia to pay for the SNG, whether or not consumers ever receive gas from the plant. That's no deal.
Senators Kerry and Graham join forces to promote more nukes, oil and coal in climate bill!
Your actions are vital!
Email/fax now! Call in this Thursday, October 15!
The New York Times yesterday published a remarkable joint op-ed from Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Lindsay Graham (R-SC). Remarkable not because Graham became the first Republican to sign on to a climate bill, but because of the enormous price Kerry paid for that support.
Their op-ed calls for vastly increased support not only for new nuclear reactors but also coal and oil as well. Indeed, their proposal reads like nothing more than a wish list from the dirty energy industry. If adopted, their proposal would make the climate bill one in name only, and instead would provide a dirty energy bonanza that would rival the worst excesses of the Bush administration.
Here is a brief excerpt from the Kerry/Graham op-ed: "Nuclear power needs to be a core component of electricity generation if we are to meet our emission reduction targets. We need to jettison cumbersome regulations that have stalled the construction of nuclear plants in favor of a streamlined permit system that maintains vigorous safeguards while allowing utilities to secure financing for more plants."
Note that the permit system has been repeatedly streamlined over the past two decades, and even NRC chairman Greg Jazcko admits the slow pace of NRC review of license applications is due to the poor quality of applications and their reliance on unapproved reactor designs. The only further streamlining would be an end to public participation entirely!
We all must act now!
If you haven't yet sent an e-mail and/or fax to your Senators in the past week, please click here to do so now! Don't be shy about contacting your Senators! Whether you've written them once this year or ten times, do so again. Remember: nuclear and utility lobbyists are contacting your Senators every single day. YOU are the most important lobbyists!
Please prepare for National Don't Nuke the Climate Call-In Day, this Thursday, October 15. A new support group for the Call-In Day has just formed on the GrassrootsNucleus networking site.
It will take all of us, reaching out as far and wide as we can, raising our voices as loudly and effectively as we can, to beat back this effort to nuke the climate bill.
If NiSource profits are increasing and it is doubling the salaries of its board members, why is it cutting jobs and asking for rate increases in the worst economy we have seen since the Great Depression? We need to make our voices heard! We need to demand more public field hearings across Northern Indiana so that all of the people who did not have the chance to testify can voice their plights and let the IURC understand how this rate increase would impact them!
