Electric bill could soon go up if Duke Energy Indiana customer

The largest electricity provider in the state is asking regulators for a rate increase.

Hundreds of thousands of people across Indiana could soon start paying more money for electricity.

Duke Energy Indiana filed a request Thursday with the state's Utility Regulatory Commission for an overall average bill increase of 16%. If approved, that increase would be added to bills in two phases: 12% in 2025 and 4% in 2026.

“Since our last base rate increase in 2020, we’ve invested $1.6 billion in our electric grid, power plants and overall system on behalf of our customers, including advanced technology that has helped prevent more than 185,000 power outages,” Duke Energy Indiana President Stan Pinegar said in a news release. "We know that utility costs can be a major part of a household and business’s budget and that customers expect us to do our part to keep bills as low as possible. We have kept our day-to-day operating costs flat since 2020 while we make long-term investments to serve customers."

Duke Energy is also proposing a voluntary "time of use" rate to help manage customer bills. This would allow customers to shift a portion of their power use to times of day when energy is less expensive.

According to the company, residential customer bills are about 25% lower today compared to late 2022 thanks to declining fuel costs to produce electricity.

The rate increase will vary between customers based on the cost to serve different needs. The total monthly impact of the two phases for a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours a month would be about $27.63.

Duke Energy's rate can only be changed after approval from state regulators. There will be extensive public proceedings, including customer input.

A regulatory decision on the request for increases is possible in early 2025. The proposed increases would generate about $492 million in annual revenue for the company.

You can read more about Duke Energy's request and plans for upgrades here.

Duke Energy is Indiana's largest electric supplier, servicing about 900,000 customers.