INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana’s top utility consumer advocate has filed a formal appeal accusing Duke Energy Indiana of massively over-collecting from its ratepayers following a recent rate increase.
Indiana Utility Consumer Counselor Abby Gray filed the appeal before the full panel of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC). The move challenges a previous determination by two presiding regulatory officers that favored the utility giant.
According to Gray’s office, Duke Energy has over-collected more than $89 million from its Indiana customers and is currently positioned to over-collect an additional $86 million annually if the rates are not adjusted.
The dispute stems from a complex clerical error and subsequent compliance filings tied to a rate case finalized last year. The IURC originally approved a revenue increase for Duke Energy totaling nearly $295.7 million. However, the commission’s original written order accidentally misstated the authorized revenue increase as $396 million.
While the commission quickly issued a corrected order to establish the true $295.7 million limit, Gray’s office alleges that Duke Energy went ahead and submitted rate compliance filings designed to collect an increase of $384.7 million—effectively banking on the uncorrected, higher figure.
The $89 million discrepancy represents the gap between what regulators officially authorized and what Duke Energy’s newly implemented rates are actually pulling in from Indiana households and businesses.
Consumer Groups and Industrial Users Form Alliance
The high-stakes appeal has united consumer advocates and heavy power users. The Citizens Action Coalition (CAC), a prominent statewide watchdog group, alongside a coalition of Indiana’s large industrial ratepayers, has formally joined Gray’s office in the appeal.
“Any case before the Commission sets a precedent that could be relied on in future cases,” Consumer Counselor Abby Gray said in a statement. “That is why it is imperative that the full Commission examine this matter and only allow Duke to recover the amount authorized last year.”
Duke Energy, which serves approximately 890,000 electric customers across 69 Indiana counties, maintains that it has done nothing wrong. The utility has raised procedural arguments, claiming that the consumer counselor’s objections to the rate steps were filed too late and should be waived.
Two IURC presiding officers, including Commission Chair Andy Zay, initially agreed with Duke’s procedural defense in a docket entry last month. That ruling is what ultimately prompted Gray to bypass those officers and take the fight directly to the full five-member IURC panel.
The appellants argue that denying the opportunity to review the calculations is a disservice to the public, leaving ratepayers with no transparency regarding whether potential refunds or carrying costs are being accurately calculated. The full commission is expected to review the appeal in the coming weeks.
For more background on how rising utility rates are impacting community members, a look at recent public pushback against utility increases can be seen in this Duke Energy Rate Hike Public Hearing Report. This report highlights the growing frustration among customers facing higher monthly power bills.
