Duke Energy Indiana Rate Case

A stronger electric grid, environmental obligations and more convenience for customers are some of the drivers of Duke Energy’s rate request.

The way utilities produce and deliver power is changing. There’s advanced technology that reduces power outages, environmental obligations driving cleaner operations, a need for better security protecting the electric grid and enhanced services that customers today expect.

Those are some of the reasons for a rate increase Duke Energy requested on April 4, 2024, before the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission. Since our last base rate increase in 2020, we have invested $1.6 billion in our electric grid, power plants and overall system on behalf of our customers, including technology that has helped prevent more than 185,000 power outages since 2020.

The request is for an overall average bill increase of approximately 16%, which, if approved, would be added to bills in two steps, approximately 12% in 2025 and 4% in 2026. The increase will vary among consumers depending on the cost to serve different types of customers, such as residential and business.

As a regulated business, our rates can only be changed after approval from state utility regulators, so there is no immediate impact from this request. There will be extensive public proceedings, including opportunities for customer input. A regulatory decision is possible in early 2025.

We know that utility costs can be a major part of a household and business’s budget and that you expect us to do our part to keep customer 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.
• We are proposing voluntary “time-of-use” rates to help customers manage their bills.
• We have proposed the lowest “customer charge” among our peer Indiana utilities. The fixed charge covers basic costs such as metering, billing and connecting to our system and does not vary with electric usage.

Meanwhile, we are making investments ranging from strengthening and protecting our electric grid to building infrastructure to power a growing state. Some of the improvements that are part of this rate request include:

A stronger, more resilient electric grid

• We have been installing state-of-the-art sensors on power lines that can automatically detect problems. Much like the GPS in a car that can identify an accident ahead and reroute a driver around the incident, the technology can quickly identify power outages and alternate energy pathways to restore service faster for customers when an outage occurs. For a video of how the technology works, visit our self-healing technology page.
• We are continuing to harden our system against severe weather to reduce power outages, including changing wood poles to steel, undergrounding power lines in targeted, outage-prone areas and rebuilding miles of overhead power lines.
• In the wake of physical attacks to the electric grid nationally, we are taking steps to improve physical security and protections at some of our key infrastructure delivering power to Indiana communities.

Powering a growing state

• Our state’s economy is growing, and we expect to have more than 60,000 new residential and business customers by 2025. We are adding 345 miles of new power lines and additional infrastructure to serve them.

Environmental obligations driving cleaner operations

• Federal rules require changes to the way we manage coal ash generated from electricity production and stored at our power plant sites. We are closing ash basins responsibly and in compliance with environmental regulations.

Providing customers with more convenience

• We need to keep pace with evolving customer needs and expectations and have installed new systems, such as the ability for customers to initiate service at a new location online and receive service the same day.

New rate options

• To help customers manage their electric bills, we are proposing time-of-use rates where customers can shift some of their power use to times of day when energy is less expensive. If the program is approved, it would be a voluntary program for residential, commercial and industrial customers interested in participating.