Duke has a history of prioritizing profits over consumers, and they’ll keep doing it if they think no one is watching. Here are some recent examples:
Duke Energy shut off electricity service roughly 70,000 times across 2020 and 2021, according to the report. In comments provided to IndyStar, Duke echoed that it felt the report was misleading and said it has “gone above and beyond to assist customers struggling to pay their utility bills” due to the pandemic.
WFIU: City Limits: How much do Bloomington residents pay for energy, water every month?
Of the three main utility providers, Duke Energy’s services are the most expensive.
“As of April, the average Duke Energy Indiana residential customer rate is $141.20,” Duke Energy senior communications consultant McKenzie Barbknecht said. “So that figure is pretax, and it captures kind of the average bill at a point in time.”
Johnson County Daily Journal: Duke Energy Indiana requests three-month rate increase
In the filings, Duke Energy announced its intent to increase its current electric rates for residential by 16%, or an increase of 24.6% from what customers paid from July to September 2021.
WFYI: Letter: Duke Energy Stands In The Way Of Indiana Cities’ Climate Goals
The lawmakers who signed the letter also want the company to reduce the energy burden for its lower-income customers and clean up toxic coal ash in Indiana as thoroughly as it did in North Carolina.
Exactly one month after the state approved the $146 million rate increase for Duke Energy, several local environmental and consumer advocacy groups are appealing that decision.
Inside Indiana Business: IURC Issues Order on Duke Energy Rate Increase Request
The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission has approved Plainfield-based Duke Energy LLC’s request for a rate increase, but with a major change. The commission says the utility will be able to raise rates to generate an additional $146 million in annual revenue, which is 60% lower than Duke’s original request.
Energy Working Group: Tone Deaf: The Facts Behind Duke Energy’s Low-Income Programs
Duke does little to close the affordability gap, consistently underfunding its own programs designed to help low-income customers pay their bills. And much of the support comes not from the company but from ratepayers in the form of mandatory bill charges or voluntary donations.
Duke Energy and Indianapolis Power & Light (IPL) Company are both facing heightened inquiries from the Indiana Utilities Regulatory Commission (IURC) over how often their coal plants are running uneconomically at a high cost to customers.
“CAC calls on Governor Holcomb to immediately establish a Utility Affordability Task Force with the stated goal of ensuring all Hoosier consumers have uninterrupted access to essential utility services and are able to remain comfortably and safely in their own homes,” said Kerwin Olson, Executive Director of CAC.
Regulators should deny Duke Energy’s request to charge household customers as much as $23 more per month for electricity, and instead roll back the company’s current charges by almost $8 a month, one state agency recommends.
WFYI: What You Need To Know About The Duke Energy Rate Case
Duke is asking for a total of $395 million. Anthony Swinger with the Office of Utility Consumer Counselor says he’s been at the OUCC for almost two decades and this is the largest rate hike he’s seen — at least the dollar amount.