Ind. residents oppose Duke rate increase

Duke Energy customers provided sworn public comment to add to Duke’s Edwardsport Integrated Coal Gasification plant case, which might increase customers’ energy bills.

Duke Energy is currently under fire after e-mails revealed Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission Administrative Law Judge Scott Storms was negotiating employment with Duke while overseeing the Edwardsport plant’s budget. Since 2007, the plant’s cost estimate rose by more than $1 billion.

The plant’s construction is now 80 percent complete. Duke is petitioning the IURC to pass the extra cost on to rate payers.

“Tonight is not the final step,” OUCC Spokesperson Anthony Swinger said. “There will be several steps to go as the case moves forward.”

The OUCC will file testimony on Duke’s proposed rate increases by May 13. It will also file testimony on alleged fraud and misrepresentation by April 15. Duke’s hearing date with the IURC is scheduled for Aug. 22.

Representatives from three county economic development corporations and the Indiana Chamber of Commerce supported Duke’s construction.

“In Indiana we like to talk about buying local,” said Ron Walker, president of Bloomington Economic Development Corporation. “This allows us a chance to source a local resource that has been very important to us.”

Attorney Jerry Polk, representing the CAC, the Sierra Club, Save the Valley and Valley Watch, asked the corporation presidents if they received funding from
Duke Energy.

When Walker said the BEDC received funding from Duke, audience members laughed. The other two county development corporations and the Indiana Chamber of Commerce said they also receive Duke funding.

Bloomington resident David Keppel said he opposed continuing construction at Edwardsport.

“Duke’s shareholders, not its ratepayers, should bear the burden for a plant sold on false pretenses,” Keppel said. “The best solution is cancellation.”

Duke originally proposed coal gasification technology for Edwardsport but discovered it was unfeasible, Keppel said. Duke touted coal gasification as a cleaner way to process coal.

Richard Hill, president of Save the Valley, also opposed continuing the plant’s construction. He said Duke doesn’t need the Edwardsport plant to meet its customers’ energy demands.

“We can expect a dramatic increase in our monthly electric bills, possibly by as much as 20 percent,” Hill said. “This is the most expensive fossil fuel plant in the country to my knowledge,” Hill said.