6/29/20 UPDATE: The IURC issued an order in Duke's rate case. Duke originally asked for an increase of $395 million, then revised that down to $362 million. The IURC approved an increase of $146 million, about 60% of Duke's revised request. The IURC also allowed Duke to continue using declining block rates (charging customers more for using less energy) as well as allowing Duke to force customers to continue paying for the Edwardsport power plant until 2045. According to Duke Energy, they will implement the rate increase in two phases, with the first increase happening later in 2020, and the second increase happening in 2021.

11/7/19 UPDATE: CAC is fighting hard to protect ratepayers from Duke Energy’s greed. Their current rate case is exceptionally contentious. Duke Energy is doing all that they can to mislead the public and obstruct the process by failing to be transparent and provide the public with the information needed to analyze and review their request. For more information, please see today's article from the Indy Star: State agency: Deny Duke's $400 million rate increase and cut current rates by $130 million.

Duke Energy wants to hike your bill by 20%, or $24 per month, and they want you to pay for the Edwardsport IGCC boondoggle until 2045! 

Duke Energy has filed for a rate hike (Cause Number 45253) with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC). They want to raise your electric bill by 20%, which amounts to a monthly bill increase of nearly $24 for an average Duke residential customer. 

Additionally, Duke wants the IURC to force you to continue to overpay for the Edwardsport Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) coal-fired power plant for the next 26 years! 

Duke Energy has been raking in enormous profits in recent years. They had a net income of $3.1 BILLION in 2017 and $2.7 BILLION in 2018. In the first quarter of 2019 alone, Duke Energy’s net income was nearly $1 BILLION.   At the same time, Hoosier households continue to struggle with declining and stagnant income and wages, and significant increases in the cost of energy, health care, food, and other necessities. 

It is Duke Energy’s customers who need relief, not the monopoly utility that is raking in profits hand-over-fist.

In this rate case, Duke Energy wants to force those who use less energy to pay more on their bills. They are requesting to continue using a billing mechanism called declining block pricing, which literally charges customers who use less electricity more per kilowatt hour (kWh). 

Hoosiers are becoming more adept at controlling their energy costs through a variety of mechanisms - energy efficiency, energy conservation, installing renewable resources, etc. Duke Energy is frustrated because this means they’re selling less energy and not making as much profit as they want to. 

Duke Energy wants to steal the economic benefit of using less energy by charging you more for using less. By sending the wrong price signals to customers, the use of declining block rates runs counter to the long-standing principle of conservation and encouraging businesses and households to be more energy efficient.

Duke Energy Bill Comparison:

for the average customer using 1,000 kWh (kilowatt hours) of electricity per month

 NOTE: Currently, the Utility Receipts Tax (URT) is built into the rates you pay. In this case, Duke is asking to remove the URT from rates and bill it is a separate line item.

Edwardsport IGCC coal-fired power plant: customers continue to overpay. 

Duke Energy’s Edwardsport IGCC (Integrated Gasification Combined-Cycle) coal-fired power plant was declared “in-service” by Duke in June 2013, and has now been operating for over 6 years. To get approval to build the plant in 2007, Duke promised legislators and regulators a price tag of $1.9 BILLION, but the final price ballooned to over $3.5 BILLION.

Over the last 10 years, Duke Energy customers have been forced to pay over $2.5 BILLION for the Edwardsport rip off. For years, the average Duke customer has been shaken down for about $14 each month for this power plant. And with this rate case, Duke Energy now wants regulators to force you to continue paying for this obscenely overpriced power plant until 2045. 

Visit https://www.citact.org/energy-policy-fossil-fuels-and-nuclear-energy-utility-rates-and-regulation-duke-energy/2018-duke-edwardsport to learn more about the history of the Edwardsport IGCC coal-fired power plant boondoggle.