EVANSVILLE — The Evansville City Council on Monday voted unanimously to pass a resolution urging the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to pause further utility rate increases that impact local residents.
Resolution C-2026-14, introduced by Mayor Stephanie Terry, with support of the whole council, passed 6-0 at Monday’s meeting. Zac Heronemus, D-Third Ward; Paul Green, D-At-Large; and Rita Taylor, D-Second Ward were not in attendance.
The resolution came less than a week after the IURC held a listening session in Evansville amid a rare inquiry into high utility bills facing Hoosiers around the state.
Terry spoke at the session, where she asked the IURC to limit or delay any additional increases until there is clear evidence that families in Southwestern Indiana could handle a rise in costs. The city council’s resolution will be submitted as formal testimony to the IURC, as well as to the members of the Indiana General Assembly representing Evansville and Indiana Gov. Mike Braun.
CenterPoint representatives told the Courier & Press last week the utility would be filing an updated gas rate case later this year.
“This is not a new issue — it’s one we’ve heard consistently from our constituents,” City Council President Ben Trockman said in a news release Monday. “Families across Evansville are experiencing real anxiety and hardship as utility costs continue to climb. As a council, we hear these concerns loud and clear, and we have a responsibility to continue speaking up on behalf of our community.”
Terry’s testimony at the listening session was joined by dozens of community members sharing stories of bills that sometimes ballooned to as large as $2,000 a month. And when they called CenterPoint to get explanations, they said, they encountered long wait times with a customer service operation they dismissed as useless.
Others shared of choosing between medications and utility costs, with one woman testifying she went a month without insulin.
Those struggles are highlighted in the resolution, which states residents are dealing with increasing financial hardship due to the rise of utility costs. This includes some who are paying utility bills that cost more than their mortgage payment.
“This is about standing up for our residents,” Trockman stated. “We want to make it clear that affordability matters, and that the people of Evansville deserve relief, consideration, and a voice in this process.”
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Evansville City Council, mayor ask IURC to halt utility rate hikes
Reporting by Sarah Loesch, Evansville Courier & Press / Evansville Courier & Press
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