Indiana Utility Regulators Consider COVID-19 Relief for Ratepayers

The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission has been presented with a joint petition by several utilities, including Duke Energy, Vectren Energy, and Indiana Michigan Power, among others, to defer certain incremental expense increases and revenue reductions attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic. The utilities are seeking authority to establish sub-dockets for each joint petitioner to address repayment programs for past due customer accounts, approval of new bad debt trackers, and the future recovery of the COVID-19 regulatory asset. Concurrently, the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor has requested a generic investigation into the COVID-19 impacts, to be conducted over two phases.

Key Takeaways:

• The joint petition, filed by 11 utility companies, seeks to defer incremental expense increases and revenue reductions attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The utilities are requesting authority to establish sub-dockets for each joint petitioner to address repayment programs for past due customer accounts and the future recovery of the COVID-19 regulatory asset.
• The Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor has requested a generic investigation into the COVID-19 impacts, to be conducted over two phases.
• The joint petition specifically mentions the COVID-19 regulatory asset, which is expected to be recovered in the future.

Statistics:

• 11 utility companies have jointly petitioned the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission for relief.
• The utilities are seeking to defer incremental expense increases and revenue reductions totaling an unspecified amount attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor is conducting a generic investigation into the COVID-19 impacts over two phases.
• The utilities are requesting the establishment of sub-dockets for each joint petitioner to address repayment programs for past due customer accounts.

Sources:

• STATE OF INDIANA INDIANA UTILITY REGULATORY COMMISSION VERIFIED PETITION OF DUKE ENERGY INDIANA, LLC, INDIANA GAS COMPANY D/B/A VECTREN ENERGY DELIVERY OF INDIANA, INC., INDIANA MICHIGAN POWER COMPANY, INDIANA NATURAL GAS CORPORATION, INDIANAPOLIS POWER & LIGHT COMPANY, MIDWEST NATURAL GAS CORPORATION, NORTHERN INDIANA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY, LLC, OHIO VALLEY GAS CORP. AND OHIO VALLEY GAS, INC., SOUTHERN INDIANA GAS & ELECTRIC COMPANY D/B/A VECTREN ENERGY DELIVERY OF INDIANA, INC., AND SYCAMORE GAS COMPANY
• PETITION OF INDIANA OFFICE OF UTILITY CONSUMER COUNSELOR FOR GENERIC INVESTIGATION INTO COVID-19 IMPACTS