Members of the public can weigh in Thursday on a proposed Indiana American Water rate hike that would raise the utility’s current annual revenue by 31%.
The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, or IURC, will hold a public field hearing on the rate increase at 6 p.m. Thursday in Fishers — the closest hearing location to Johnson County. It will take place in the Center Meeting Room – F179 at Hamilton County Public Library East – Fishers Branch, 5 Municipal Drive, Fishers.
During the hearing, people can provide public, on-the-record testimony while speaking directly to the commission. No final decisions will be made about the pending case at the hearing.
Indiana American Water, the Greenwood-based water utility, first filed a rate adjustment request with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, or IURC, on March 31. The utility is the largest investor-owned water utility in the state, providing water and wastewater services to approximately 1.4 million people.
IAW last filed for new rates through a general rate filing in September 2018 and last implemented new rates in 2019.
The rate increase request reflects the utility’s plans for $875 million in water and wastewater system investments to be made through 2025 to continue providing safe and reliable service. It also reflects a significant increase in the cost of procuring chemicals, goods and services, according to an IAW news release.
Indiana American Water is seeking to increase revenues over a phased, three-step process through May 2025 that would result in $86.7 million of additional annual revenue when fully implemented. If the company’s proposed rates are approved as requested, the bill for a typical residential customer using 4,000 gallons per month would increase by approximately $14 per month when rates are fully implemented in 2025.
The increases for residential wastewater customers will vary depending on the community served. The utility serves residential customers and sells its water at a wholesale price to municipalities that still operate their own utilities, including the town of Whiteland.
With this proposed rate increase, Whiteland and other towns and cities who buy IAW could see a 49% increase in rates. Whiteland officials plan to fight to negotiate the rate hike down, and filed a petition to intervene on the rate increase with the IURC on May 4.
The motion to intervene was later approved on May 12.
The Whiteland Town Council approved going forward with the intervention at its April 18 meeting. All members agreed they could not afford to eat the price increase or pass all of it along to residents.
This is not the first time the town has had to intervene on a rate increase from Indiana American Water. In 2018, when the utility company last raised its rates, the proposed increase for Whiteland was 25% at the time. The town and others intervened and negotiated that increase down to 8%, said Stephen Watson, town attorney.
Additional information on current rates is available on the utility’s website at amwater.com/inaw/customer-service-billing/your-water-rates.
Public feedback on the rate increase is also being solicited by the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, the state agency representing consumer interests in cases before the IURC. Consumers who wish to submit comments have three options to do so:
- Online at in.gov/oucc/2361.htm
- By email at [email protected]
- By mail: Public Comments, Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor (OUCC), 115 W. Washington St., Suite 1500 SOUTH, Indianapolis, IN 46204
All written consumer comments have to be received by the OUCC by no later than July 14 so the agency can consider comments in preparing its testimony and ile them with the IURC to be included in the case’s formal evidentiary record, according to the agency.
Comments should include the consumer’s name, mailing address, and a reference to either “IURC Cause No. 45870” or Indiana American Water Rates. People with questions about submitting written comments can contact the OUCC’s consumer services staff toll-free at 1-888-441-2494, the agency says.
