$116 vs. $200: Here's how proposed CenterPoint increase compares to other utilities - Courier & Press

Here's how proposed CenterPoint increase compares to other utilities

$116 vs. $200: Here's how proposed CenterPoint increase compares to other utilities

EVANSVILLE – Comparing CenterPoint’s latest proposed electricity rate increase to other Indiana utilities is difficult for several reasons.

But one thing is certain: Evansville-area customers will be paying more than any other resident in the state. And in some cases, a lot more.

In a Tuesday news release, CenterPoint said an average customer could see their monthly electric bill surge to $200 per month in 2026. That’s roughly a $28 increase from users are paying now, which was already the highest rate in the state. And that doesn't include natural gas, which can add hundreds to some residents' monthly costs.

In the past, CenterPoint has defined a typical user the same way as many other utilities: someone who uses 1,000 kilowatt hours, or units of power, per month.

Its latest figures, though, deviate from that in favor of an ultra-specific number: 799 kilowatt hours.

So in an effort to make the closest comparisons possible, the Courier & Press asked the four other investor-owned utilities in the state – AES Indiana, Duke Energy, Indiana Michigan Power and NIPSCO – to explain how much a 799-consuming customer would pay under their rates, and if that figure is slated to jump in the next three years.

Here’s what they said.

Duke Energy

Duke Energy is CenterPoint’s closest neighbor, serving customers in Gibson, Posey and Warrick counties, as well as huge other swaths of the state.

Their rates, though, are very different.

“The total monthly bill for a typical Duke Energy residential customer using 799 kilowatt-hours per month would be $111.83 before sales tax,” spokeswoman McKenzie Barbknecht said. “Rates may fluctuate in the future based on a number of factors including potential changes to base rates, fuel cost adjustments and bill riders.”

Duke does have several cases before the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, the five-member board that decides the billing fate for millions of Hoosiers. Those include a pending fuel-cost adjustment and a proposed solar purchase agreement.

Duke’s latest electrical rate case, though, was decided in 2020. Before that, it last sought an increase in 2004, according to Indiana’s Office of Utility Consumer Counselor.

AES Indiana

AES Indiana – formerly known as Indianapolis Power & Light – just requested a rate increase last month. If the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission approves it, bills could start to increase by next summer.

Under that new figure, a costumer using 799 kilowatt hours in a month would pay $115.93, spokesperson Kelly Young said. Their typical user – 1,000 kilowatt hours – would clock in at $139.36.

Those numbers could change if AES Indiana seeks another rate increase between 2024 and 2026. Their latest request, though, is their first since 2018, the OUCC states.

Indiana Michigan Power

“I don’t have figures readily available for a 799-kWh customer,” I&M spokesperson Tracy Warner told the Courier & Press. Like most Indiana utilities, they set a typical customer at 1,000 kilowatt hours.

And their customers could see their bills rise soon. Warner said their pending rate case before the IURC could bring a two-stage increase, with the last hike coming in early 2025. If approved, a typical customer would pay $176.99 a month.

That means I&M customers could pay about $23 less than CenterPoint customers to use 201 more kilowatt hours.

NIPSCO

A NIPSCO spokeswoman largely declined to comment for this story beyond providing an August news release announcing an increase in NIPSCO’s electrical rates.

Like CenterPoint, the company used a highly specific figure to define an average user: 668 kilowatt hours per month. Those types of users will see an overall monthly increase of $12 a month, the release states.

NIPSCO is CenterPoint’s closest competitor when it comes to electrical costs. According to the IURC’s 2023 electrical bill survey, a NIPSCO customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours in a month paid $156.44. That’s compared to $165 for CenterPoint.

But that was before NIPSCO’s latest increase. If their bills do inch past CenterPoint’s next year, the lead could be short-lived. Assuming the IURC greenlights CenterPoint’s proposal, the average Evansville electric bills would increase by about $10 a month in late 2024 – and continue to swell from there.