PLAINFIELD, Ind. — Duke Energy wants to increase the cost of your energy bill.
On Thursday, Duke Energy filed a rate raise request with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission asking to raise the cost of an average energy bill by 16%. If approved, the rate would not increase all at once but instead jump up 12% in 2025 and then an additional 4% in 2026.
The total monthly cost to consumers would vary based on the use of energy, but Duke Energy estimated that a residential home using 1,000 kilowatt-hours a month could see an increase to their monthly bill of 19%, or $27.63.
Duke Energy said this increase would raise revenue by $492 million and allow the company to make improvements to modernize the electric grid. These improvements include making the grid more resistant to outages by installing sensors that can identify outages in addition to installing hundreds of miles of new power lines and improving grid security due to a wave of physical attacks on power grids across the nation.
“We know that utility costs can be a major part of a household and business’s budget and that customers expect us to do our part to keep bills as low as possible,” said Duke Energy Indiana President Stan Pinegar.
“We have kept our day-to-day operating costs flat since 2020 while we make long-term investments to serve customers. We also are proposing voluntary, ‘time-of-use’ rates to help manage customer bills. Fortunately, fuel costs for our electricity production have declined, and residential customer bills are about 25% lower than they were in late 2022.”
The rate raise would need to be approved by the utility commission. A decision isn’t likely to be made until early 2025 as the public would first need to be given time to weigh in.
Environmental organization Sierra Club blasted the rate proposal by stating that Duke Energy would use the money to prop up coal-burning power plants that, in addition to being major polluters, were losing money “the majority of the time (they) operate.”
“For over a decade, Duke has unfairly put the burden on customers’ pocketbooks to prop up its money-losing Edwardsport and Gibson plants. Instead of investing in clean and affordable renewable energy, Duke Energy chose to waste billions of our hard-earned dollars,” said Robyn Skuya-Boss, Hoosier Chapter Sierra Club Director.
