EVANSVILLE – After years of weathering skyrocketing utility costs, Southwestern Indiana will finally again have a representative on the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun announced Friday morning that he was naming former Vanderburgh County Councilor and state senator Bob Deig to the IURC. He’ll be one of three new members to join the collective that has ultimate say over what Indiana residents pay for their electricity, natural gas, water and sewer.
His appointment comes as Evansville-area residents deal with skyrocketing costs on their CenterPoint bills. After the former IURC regime greenlit a hike in electric base rates earlier this year, locals saw average bills swell by 25% over the summer. And CenterPoint has already warned that homes with natural gas could see their heating costs rise this winter – something that’s unfortunately becoming an almost yearly tradition.
In an interview with the Courier & Press on Friday morning, Deig said he’ll follow the IURC’s mandate to “make sure that we have fair rates and safe and reliable services.”
Does he think CenterPoint’s rates are fair?
“I think our area of the state has gone up tremendously, percentage-wise, compared to the rest of the United States,” he said. “And I think CenterPoint and other utilities have seen that and heard that from ratepayers and I think that we’ll be addressing that in the near future to try to lower the burden on people – residential, commercial, and industrial customers as well.”
Deig’s most recent job in public service came as a member of the Vanderburgh County Council. The Democratic party chose him via caucus after Mike Goebel left to become a county commissioner. In March, he and the council at large voted to oppose CenterPoint’s most recent increase. He lost his reelection bid last year.
His first day on the IURC will be Jan. 12. He’ll join fellow new appointees Anthony Swinger and current state Sen. Andy Zay.
Swinger spent years as Indiana’s Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, the entity that argues on behalf of residents in rate cases. Zay, meanwhile, will replace the outgoing Jim Huston as the IURC’s new president. Former commissioners Sarah Freeman and Wesley Bennett have already departed, leaving only David Veleta and David Ziegner behind.
Zay was among the minority of Senate Republicans to support Indiana’s failed bid, at the behest of President Donald Trump and other out-of-state backers, to redraw all nine of Indiana’s federal congressional districts to overwhelmingly favor the GOP.
In a news release announcing their appointments Friday morning, Braun claimed all three aligned with his “commitment to making energy affordable for families and businesses.”
“Hoosiers deserve reliable and affordable utilities and have been burdened by excessive and unnecessary utility rate increases for too long,” he’s quoted as saying in the release. “I am appointing these three Hoosier leaders to serve on the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to ensure that Indiana has exceptional utilities without saddling families and businesses with excessive prices.”
The Evansville area hadn’t had a local member on the IURC since former state senator Greg Server stepped down in 2009. Evansville Rep. Alex Burton has spent months pushing for that to change. In a statement Friday morning, he lauded Deig’s appointment.
“I look forward to the newest members of the IURC keeping affordability at the forefront as decisions are made and policy is carried out,” he said in part.
While he’s not allowed to speak with residents directly during rate cases, Deig promised he’d still seek out everyone’s concerns.
“I can hear them and read all their testimony from online comments as well,” he said. “We work as a judge and jury. We really can’t make really comments (during hearings), but we can listen to people and hear what they have to say. Of course I will listen to that.”
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Former Vanderburgh councilor will now have a vote in CenterPoint cases
Reporting by Jon Webb, Evansville Courier & Press / Evansville Courier & Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
