If you are an Indiana Michigan Power customer and would like to comment on the utility’s pending rate request, you have the chance to do so.

The Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor (OUCC), the state agency representing consumer interests in cases before the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC), is reviewing the utility’s request and is scheduled to file testimony on Oct. 12, 2021.

In addition, the IURC will hold public field hearings in the case on Aug. 24, 2021, in South Bend and on Sept. 7, 2021, in Fort Wayne.

Written consumer comments

While using its legal and technical resources to review I&M’s request, including examining the utility’s books and operations, the OUCC is inviting written comments from customers through Oct. 5, 2021.

Consumers who wish to submit comments for the case record are encouraged to do so in writing. Comments are welcome via the OUCC’s website at www.in.gov/oucc/2361.htm, by email at uccinfo@oucc.IN.gov, or by mail at:

Public Comments
Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor
115 W. Washington St., Suite 1500 South
Indianapolis, IN 46204

The OUCC needs to receive all written consumer comments no later than Oct. 5, 2021, so that it can: 1) Consider them in preparing its testimony and 2) File them with the Commission to be included in the case’s formal evidentiary record. Comments should include the consumer’s name, mailing address, and a reference to either “IURC Cause No. 45576” or Indiana Michigan Power. Consumers with questions about submitting written comments can contact the OUCC’s consumer services staff toll-free at 1-888-441-2494.

Public field hearings

The IURC’s public field hearings on I&M’s request are scheduled for:

• Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021, in South Bend: Century Center Recital Hall, 120 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
• Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021, in Fort Wayne: Purdue University Fort Wayne, Walb Student Union Classic Ballroom, 2101 E. Coliseum Blvd.

Each hearing will begin at 6:00 p.m. Consumers are encouraged to arrive by 5:45 p.m. for an overview of field hearing procedures and the rate case process. Attendees are required to comply with all local health and safety regulations.

The sole purpose of each field hearing is to receive public testimony.

• Consumers can speak directly to the Commission under oath and on the record.
• Oral comments during the hearing will become part of the case record. They will carry the same weight as written consumer comments submitted to the OUCC by Oct. 5.
• Utilities do not make presentations or answer questions during field hearings. The focus, again, is on public input. In this case, I&M filed testimony and exhibits in July 2021.
• Commissioners are not allowed to answer questions about the case. They will ultimately render a decision after weighing evidence from the utility, the OUCC, and intervening parties.
• No final decisions will be made at the field hearings.

The OUCC’s informational video offers an overview at www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAodsxYkwkY and www.facebook.com/258215110964494/videos/806561993370023.

Case overview

I&M provides electric service to approximately 470,000 customers in 24 Indiana counties. Its pending request would raise rates in two phases; increases would take effect: 1) when a Commission order is issued in 2022, and 2) on Jan. 1, 2023.

If approved, I&M’s proposal would increase its annual operating revenues by $104 million, an increase of approximately 6.5 percent, when fully phased in.

According to I&M’s testimony and exhibits, the utility’s proposal would raise a monthly electric residential bill for 1,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) from $157.82 to $167.29 when fully implemented.

• The monthly residential customer charge would rise from $15.00 to $20.00 under the utility’s request. The monthly service charge for most small commercial customers would rise from $19.00 to $25.00.
• The “energy charge,” or part of the base rate varying by usage, would also rise.
• I&M’s filings in this case state that it is seeking new rates due to increases in operating and maintenance costs, along with infrastructure improvements. The utility’s filings cite replacements of aging lines and poles, substation upgrades, new advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), vegetation management, new electric vehicle charging station infrastructure, higher regional transmission costs, additional technology aimed at improving grid reliability, completion of life cycle management (LCM) projects at the Cook Nuclear Plant, and projects at the Rockport Generating Station including coal ash disposal.
• I&M’s current base rates received IURC approval in March 2020, with previous rates approved in May 2018. However, billing amounts have changed since then due to rate recovery mechanisms – also referred to as riders or trackers – which allow rate increases or decreases for specific line items on an expedited basis.
• Riders are separate from base rates. They are subject to OUCC review and IURC approval.
• All Indiana investor-owned energy utilities use riders to varying degrees.
• I&M uses riders to recover costs for generating fuel, energy efficiency programs, environmental mandates, regional transmission, off-system sales, resource adequacy, solar power, and nuclear life cycle management.
• In this case, I&M proposes implementing a new AMI rider to pay for installation of new meters throughout its Indiana service territory after 2022; using a tax rider to refund federal income tax savings and recover costs associated with any future federal or state income tax law changes; and ending its LCM rider, with projects at the Cook Nuclear Plant to be finished in 2022. The utility proposes to update and continue the rest of its current riders.

Additional parties have intervened in this case. They include municipal governments (Fort Wayne, Marion, Muncie, and South Bend), the Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana, the Wabash Valley Power Alliance, The Kroger Co., and industrial customers (including I/N Tek LP, Linde, Inc., Marathon Petroleum Company, Messer LLC, and Steel Dynamics, Inc.). Any testimony from the intervenors is due on Oct. 12, 2021.

A settlement agreement is possible in any legal proceeding. If an agreement is reached, the settling parties are required to present evidence showing it to be in the public interest. The IURC may approve, deny, or modify any settlement it considers.

A final Commission order is currently expected in the spring of 2022.