IURC approves smaller rate increase than requested by Vectren
EVANSVILLE — Indiana’s utility regulators have approved an electricity rate increase for Vectren, though in an amount less than the Evansville-based utility company was hoping to receive.
This afternoon the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission issued an order that allows Vectren to collect an addition $28.6 million in annual revenue from its electricity rates. That’s about 16 percent less than the $34 million Vectren had asked for. (When Vectren’s rate case began in December 2009, the utility company asked for a $54 million annual increase. Vectren revised its requests twice after that, finally settling on a request for $34 million.)
Immediately after the order was issued, Vectren still was not sure how much extra customers will pay under the new rates. More details on that should be available later today as the utility crunches the numbers, said Vectren spokeswoman Chase Kelley.
If Vectren had received the $34 million it was asking for, the utility had calculated that the average residential customer who uses 900 kilowatt hours a month would pay $12.50 per month extra.
Utility regulators also denied Vectren’s request to adopt a new rate design known as “decoupling,” which allows a utility company to recover its fixed costs regardless of how much electricity its customers use. Regulators also denied Vectren’s request for an increase on its return on equity.
In a press release on the Vectren case, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission said it denied Vectren’s decoupling request because it did not see evidence that decoupled electricity rates would be in the public interest. Vectren already uses a decoupled rate structure for its natural gas utilities.
The commission’s 108-page order in the Vectren case is a result of 16 months of public hearings, court proceedings and a lengthy docket of filings.
This is a developing story. Check back later for more details.
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