An Indiana House bill designed to help electric utility affordability statewide saw no changes after the Senate’s votes on amendments Monday.
State Rep. Alaina Shonkwiler, R-Noblesville, authored House Bill 1002, which would allow residential ratepayers to be placed on budget billing plans on July 1, and utilities will be prohibited from disconnecting low-income customers’ services during periods with extreme heat warnings. The legislation also ties utility profits to performance metrics, including affordability and service restoration, and utilities will use a three-year rate plan.
The bill introduces “performance-based ratemaking,” Shonkwiler previously said, and ensures that utilities are rewarded for delivering results that benefit Indiana residents.
Before the bill’s second reading, 19 amendments were proposed but only 12 were heard on the Senate floor Monday. State Sen. Eric Koch, R-Bedford, said nearly all proposed amendments would trigger a “recommit” if passed and have to go to the appropriations committee, but the deadline has already passed.
The bill would die if a recommit was triggered, Bedford said.
“House Bill 1002 is too important to the ratepayers of Indiana to be killed and defeated, and I would urge your defeat of this amendment for that reason,” Koch said about multiple amendments.
State Sen. Rodney Pol Jr., D-Chesterton, on Monday, proposed seven amendments, including one that would eliminate sales tax for utilities’ residential customers. His amendment failed in an 18-27 vote.
“I’ve been hearing nonstop from my constituents in Northwest Indiana that the high price of utilities have put many of these folks in a dire situation,” Pol said. “They feel that they have to choose between paying their rent, paying for their heat or paying for groceries. Two out of three isn’t bad, but in that situation, it doesn’t keep you alive.”
Pol also introduced an amendment that would create 12-month payment plans for residential consumers who have delinquent accounts, which failed in a 17-31 vote. He also introduced an amendment that would require utilities to include rate explanations on customer bills, which failed in a voice vote.
The Chesterton-based state senator also proposed an amendment that wouldn’t allow tax breaks for data centers, which failed in a voice vote. Pol proposed another that would create a “reasonable payment arrangement” to any residential customers, and the amendment failed in a 14-34 vote.
Pol introduced an amendment to allow net-metering in Indiana, which he said had previously been sunset. The amendment failed in a voice vote.
The final amendment Pol introduced would not allow utilities to terminate service if customers had a medical necessity. Koch told senators that the IURC already allows for two 10-day periods without disconnection for those with medical necessities.
Pol’s final amendment failed in a 20-28 vote. Koch said all of his amendments would trigger a recommit.
“I wish I got some notice,” Pol said. “I don’t think (House Bill) 1002 should die at all. I think that all of these should be applicable to recommit to (the appropriations committee) Thursday, and we should be able to vote on these.”
State Sen. Fady Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis, also introduced multiple amendments during Monday’s session, including one that wouldn’t allow the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to issue a final order that would result in a more than 3% average rate increase.
“The IURC is an appointed board, and we give them unlimited authority to approve any utility rate increase,” Qaddoura said. “I don’t think it’s appropriate that we get held accountable by the public for the increase of utility rates in Indiana, yet we leave the decision-making process to the IURC with no regulations.”
The amendment failed in a 16-31 vote Monday.
Qadourra also had another amendment that would lower taxes on utilities year-after-year, which he introduced after Pol’s amendment to eliminate sales tax failed. The change to legislation had the same result, failing in a 16-31 vote.
State Sen. Andrea Hunley, D-Indianapolis, also proposed multiple amendments that failed on Monday. The first would create rules for investor-owned utilities and would require the IURC to approve the sale or transfer of any portion of those utilities.
Hunley believed that would help prevent “monopoly utilities” from being sold to out-of-state firms or international conglomerates, she said. The amendment failed in a 13-28 vote.
Another proposed amendment would not allow utilities to collect fees when restoring service to customers who lost power, but it failed in a 20-28 vote. Hunley’s final proposed amendment failed in a 23-26 vote and would’ve prohibited utilities from passing lobbying, legal or investor-relation activity fees to customers.
“I don’t think our utilities should be allowed to pass the cost of a steak dinner with their investors to us as ratepayers,” Humbley said. “It has no fiscal impact to the state. It’s just about what fees can carry into our utility bills.”
House Bill 1002 is expected to be on its third Senate reading at a later date.
mwilkins@chicagotribune.com
