As utility bills continue to rise across Indiana, one Indianapolis-based group has started a campaign to influence Gov. Mike Braun to tackle the problem.
“We have a governor that, since the election, has emphasized, at least with his words, affordability,” said Kerwin Wilson, executive director of Citizens Action Coalition. “We’ve seen little action on that front and little deliverables on that front.”
The Citizens Action Coalition created “Stop Mike’s Hikes,” which is an accountability campaign asking Braun “to answer for skyrocketing electricity bills and change misguided energy decisions” statewide, according to a Tuesday news release.
According to its website, “Stop Mike’s Hikes” asks Braun to fight for realistic and transparent energy planning, keep bills in check, embrace wind and solar power, and make large energy consumers like data centers pay their fair share. The website also features resources on rising rates and a petition calling for Braun to act.
The Citizens Action Coalition has found that electric utility bills have increased more than $28 per month statewide, or by 17.5%, according to a July report from the organization. NIPSCO residential customers were hit hardest, with about a $50 per month increase, or 26.7%, in one year.
On Tuesday, Braun also called for “an entrepreneurial approach” to address utility rates and announced that he had named Security of Energy and Natural Resources Suzie Jaworowski, former state Rep. Dollyne Sherman, and Cory Cochran, a Floyd County-based business executive, to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission’s nominating committee.
Braun also announced that applications are open for three IURC commissioner vacancies, and he encouraged “entrepreneurial candidates” to apply for the full-time positions.
“It is important that the IURC nominating committee look at applicants through a lens that considers one’s ability to protect ratepayers while objectively weighing the facts and proposals that will impact Hoosiers for years to come,” Braun said in a news release. “Ensuring that Indiana has efficient utilities without overburdening Hoosier families is critically important to me. If you are an entrepreneurial thinker and creative problem solver, I encourage you to apply to joining the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.”
A spokesperson for Braun did not elaborate on the meaning of “an entrepreneurial approach.”
The primary function of the IURC is to act as an economic regulator and surrogate to competition, Olson said, not to “bring an entrepreneurial spirit and carry out the energy policy of the governor.”
“My only reaction, I suppose, is that I’m a little confused by (Braun’s) framing of entrepreneurial spirit,” Olson said after the governor’s Tuesday announcement. “I think that, in a certain respect, mischaracterizes the function of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, and I’m not sure what an entrepreneurial spirit necessarily has to do with being an economic regulator.”
Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith’s office said in a statement Tuesday that he “has been an outspoken critic of the rising utility rates.” Beckwith recently called for a sales tax moratorium on utility services, but Indiana state lawmakers are wary to make the change, according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
“(Beckwith) realizes the need for long-term reform and is actively working with Gov. Braun and lawmakers to find a solution,” a representative for Beckwith’s office said in a Tuesday email.
Beckwith’s representative said the moratorium “will provide immediate relief while a comprehensive solution is determined,” but about 99.8% of state tax earnings go to the general fund, according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
Not only is the Citizens Action Coalition concerned about rising utility bills, but Olson said the organization is alarmed by the state’s continued reliance on fossil fuel energy sources.
“That’s a high-cost, high-polluting path,” he said. “It will only exacerbate the affordability crisis, that will only exacerbate the climate prices and public health outcomes.”
Olson believes that the state will continue to be reliant on fossil fuels until small modular reactors are ready for use, which are advanced nuclear reactors that have about one-third of the generating capacity of traditional nuclear power reactors, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Olson previously said he believes that nuclear energy is the most dangerous, expensive and dirtiest way to generate electricity, according to Post-Tribune archives. He also previously said there’s an inseparable link between nuclear power and nuclear war, and the construction costs are high.
In a statement Tuesday, Danielle McGrath, president of the Indiana Energy Association, said the state’s energy future “cannot be reduced to a debate of ‘this resource versus that one.”
NIPSCO is a member of the Indiana Energy Association, McGrath said in her Tuesday email.
“The reality is our state needs a balanced mix of resources to ensure energy is reliable, affordable, and available when and where it’s needed,” McGrath said in her statement. “While wind and solar play an important role, they cannot meet Indiana’s energy needs on their own. Natural gas, coal, nuclear, and other dispatchable resources remain critical to keeping the lights on, supporting job growth, and maintaining our state’s economic competitiveness.”
Ashley Williams, executive director of Just Transition Northwest Indiana, said in an email that the organization applauds Citizens Action Coalition for starting its accountability campaign. Williams believes Indiana needs to transition to clean, affordable and reliable energy statewide.
“We are facing a mounting affordability crisis, and Northwest Indiana is at the forefront,” Williams said. “On a daily basis, region households are being forced to make the false choice between putting food on the table and paying thier NIPSCO bill. This is a heartbreaking and unsustainable reality, exacerbated by the data center boom, where greedy monopoly utility companies are profiteering at the expense of everyday Hoosiers.”
Olson wants to see state leadership take consumers’ concerns more seriously, and he wants to see more of a focus on what will impact low-income Hoosiers, he said Tuesday.
He would like to see a statewide program to help low-income residents pay their utility bills, Olson said.
“I hope we can start there and at least ensure that (everyone) can afford their electricity bills,” he added. “Let’s insulate (low-income) households and take care of those folks first.”
