Utilities Want To Charge Rate Payers For What They Will Lose Due To Pandemic

INDIANA – The Indianapolis Business Journal reported Monday that ten Indiana utilities are asking the Indiana Regulatory Commission to allow them to charge ratepayers for revenue they stand to lose because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The group that includes Duke Energy filed a joint petition Friday.

The group says they expect to see significantly reduced load and revenue as a result of businesses shutting down or moving to remote locations.

They also expect to see uncollectable debt and increased expenses for employee protective equipment.

IBJ reports that the utilities are asking for permission to collect lost revenue from customers and to charge customers for all “bad debt expense incurred” associated with government orders to not disconnect due to nonpayment.

Indiana is under an executive order suspending such disconnections through June 4.

The utilities didn’t say just how much they expect to lose or how much of an increase they want to make up for the loss.

The consumer group, Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana, blasted the request as “unprecedented utility greed.”

They went on to say that the investor-owned utilities want to charge consumers for the energy that they did not sell because of the global pandemic.

The Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor is asking for a formal state investigation into the utilities claims and an extended suspension of disconnections and the waiving of disconnect late payment, reconnect and other fees past June 4th.