Key components in a gas bill include gas costs and base rates.
Base rates cover "non-gas" costs for a utility, including operational, maintenance, and capital costs. A natural gas utility is allowed to earn a return on this portion of the bill.
In a pending rate case, the OUCC Indiana Utilities Corporation have reached an agreement in principle, with a formal settlement agreement expected by Nov. 1, 2024. Any settlement before the IURC may be approved, denied, or modified.
The utility filed its petition and the following testimony and exhibits on June 13, 2024:
The OUCC filed its testimony with recommendations on Sept. 9, 2024:
All publicly filed documents in the rate case (Cause No. 46086) are available on the Commission's website.
Indiana Utilities Corporation's current base rates were set in February 2019. In its rate case order, the IURC approved a settlement agreement between the OUCC and the utility. It reduced the utility's requested increase from 5.24 percent to 4.29 percent.
Gas Costs
Natural gas utilities buy gas for their customers in a competitive wholesale market. Indiana law allows utilities to adjust rates periodically to recover changes in those costs, which can go up or down. These costs comprise a significant portion of a residential bill and are recovered through the Gas Cost Adjustment (GCA) process.
- Utilities may recover wholesale gas costs on a dollar-for-dollar basis but may not profit on them.
- Before adjusting rates to reflect the costs, a utility must demonstrate that it has shopped prudently in the competitive market.
- Each GCA filing requires OUCC review and IURC approval.
Indiana Utilities Corporation files gas cost adjustment requests every six months. Its most recently approved GCA (Cause No. 37357 GCA-117) received approval in October 2024.
Additional Resources
10-31-2024