IURC investigates energy affordability INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission announced an investigation into energy affordability and utility costs on Wednesday. The commission says rising utility bills are putting added pressure on already strained budgets for In diana families and businesses. They launched their investigative inquiry under Gov. Mike Braun’s directive, calling on the state’s five largest investor-owned utilities to present on various topics related to energy affordability. AES Indiana, CenterPoint Energy Indiana, Duke Energy, Indiana Michigan Power, and Northern Indiana Public Service Company will be the ones investigated. The commission will look at how usage and rates lead to bills, the impact of growth on affordability, and steps to increase bill transparency and address rising energy costs. “We want our ratepayers’ cost to be as little as possible, but we also want our utilities to be successful so that when we turn the switch, the lights come on. That balance feels dramatically out of whack for many, many Hoosiers,” said Chairman Andy Zay of the commission in a statement. “This is the beginning, not the end of a process.” They will have conversations with these companies to find short- and long-term solutions related to affordability. Zay says he wants Hoosiers to know that they are listening. In a release issued Wednesday from the commission, the Republican governor said that from the beginning, the administration has been focused on kitchen table issues like affordability. “That is why I appointed a strong consumer advocate in the Office of the Utility Consumer Counselor and appointed IURC commissioners focused on ratepayers. This is exactly what I expected to see from my new appointments to the IURC and I expect Chairman Zay to keep the focus on addressing affordability, transparency, and reliability for ratepayers while holding investor-owned utilities accountable,” Braun’s statement said. The commission will meet with these utility companies on March 24. Based on the investigation, the commission will determine next steps. ...read more read less