Help Hoosiers Now: Indiana Ratepayer Relief Plan
As families across Indiana struggle under some of the highest utility bills in the Midwest, Indiana Conservation Voters (ICV) and the Citizens Action Coalition (CAC) announced their Help Hoosiers Now: Ratepayer Relief Plan to address Indiana’s worsening energy affordability crisis.
A recent federal report predicted Indiana electric bills will go up by 16.3% in 2025. A CAC analysis found Indiana’s monopoly utilities have imposed the most severe electric bill increases on residential customers in at least two decades, with some families paying nearly $50 more a month than just one year ago.
The energy affordability plan outlines a roadmap for legislators to bring costs down now and prevent unnecessary price hikes in the future. All of the policies outlined in the plan share a common goal: ensuring Hoosiers are no longer stuck paying the price for utility-friendly policies and a lack of affordable energy choices.
The Ratepayer Relief Plan includes a mix of short- and long-term solutions, including proposals that help at-risk families avoid dangerous shutoffs; prohibit utilities from passing along unnecessary costs; expand community energy options; strengthen regulatory oversight; and ensure monopoly utilities cannot unfairly shift their financial risk onto ratepayers.
QUICK REFERENCE: POLICY BY POLICY
- Establish a Low-Income Discount Rate
- Prohibit Summer Shutoffs for LIHEAP Households
- Reform IURC Approval Over Mergers and Acquisitions
- Limit Utility Profit Rates (Rate of Return = Cost of Capital)
- Ban Rate Recovery for Lobbying, Politics and Public Relations
- Repeal or Reduce Cost Trackers
- Authorize Community Energy
- Elect or Require Confirmation of IURC Commissioners
- Review Data Center Policies and Impacts to Ratepayers
- Require Large Industrial Users to Participate in Efficiency Programs
- Statewide Siting Reform
