Community Utilities of Indiana's (CUII's) service territories include:
- Indiana Water Service, Inc. in Merrillville,
- Twin Lakes Utilities, Inc. in Lakes of the Four Seasons, and
- Water Service Company of Indiana, Inc. near Roselawn.
- Distribution System Improvement Charge (DSIC)
CUII is seeking IURC approval of a Distribution System Improvement Charge (DSIC) in Cause No. 45998. The filing proposes adding a flat monthly charge of $1.47 to a residential customer's bill. On Feb. 5, 2024 the OUCC filed testimony (Compton, Parks, Willoughby) recommending limiting the increase to $0.61. The OUCC and CUII reached a settlement agreement that would limit the increase to $0.67 and the OUCC filed settlement testimony on Feb. 14, 2024. The IURC issued an order approving the settlement agreement on April 24, 2024.
Indiana law (IC 8-1-31) allows water and sewer utilities to seek expedited rate recovery as often as once per year to replace infrastructure (such as aging distribution lines) that has exceeded its useful life.
- The DSIC law allows a water or sewer utility to impose a surcharge to recover costs for replacing aging distribution or collection system infrastructure since its last rate case. Without this law, a utility would be required to wait until its next rate case to begin earning this return.
- A surcharge may not be imposed for plant additions used to connect new customers.
- Under the law, total surcharges cannot exceed 10 percent of the base revenue amount approved in the utility’s most recent general base rate case.
- Certain costs can be recovered through the DSIC and not count toward the 10-percent cap. They include replacements of customer-owned lead service lines and galvanized steel service lines, costs for improvements placed in service due to road construction, and property taxes associated with eligible infrastructure improvements.
- The surcharge requires IURC approval to take effect. A Commission order is required within 60 days of the utility’s filing.
- By law, the OUCC must file its report within 30 days of the utility’s request. The OUCC’s review is statutorily limited to whether the infrastructure additions qualify under the statute and whether the surcharge has been calculated correctly.
- 2021-2023 Rate Case (Current Rates)
The IURC issued an order approving new rates for CUII on Feb. 1, 2023, in Cause No. 45651.
The IURC also issued an order on reconsideration on May 3, 2023.
CUII has appealed the rate case order, with the matter now pending before the Indiana Court of Appeals. Consumer parties, including the OUCC, have filed their brief asking the Court to uphold the Commission's order.
UPDATE 1-18-24: The Indiana Court of Appeals issued an opinion on Jan. 16, 2024 upholding the Commission's order.
This chart compares the impact on a monthly residential bill for 5,000 gallons under the case's requests, recommendations, and order:
Current Bill Utility's Initial Request (Dec. 2021) OUCC Recommendations (April 2022) Utility Rebuttal (May 2022) CUII Proposed Order (July 2022) OUCC Proposed Order (Sept. 2022) IURC Final Order (Feb. 2023) Water $42.44 $82.60 $65.76 $74.51 $73.75 $60.86 $63.09 Sewer $61.34 $95.83 $66.50 $92.30 $91.57 $65.86 $68.88 Total $103.78 $178.43 $132.26 $166.81 $165.32 $126.72 $131.97 The OUCC filed its proposed order in the case on Sept. 1, 2022, and filed the following testimony on Apr. 28, 2022, recommending significant reductions to the requests:
The OUCC issued an Apr. 4, 2022 news release to invite consumer comments. An IURC field hearing was held on Apr. 12 in Porter County.
Our infographic outlines the steps in a rate case.
All publicly filed documents are available through the IURC's electronic document system, including the utility's petition and testimony:
- 2017-2018 Rate Case (Previous Rates)
2017/2018 Rate Case
CUII's previous rates received IURC approval in January 2018, followed by a March 2018 order on reconsideration.
Utility's Initial Request (Dec. 2015) Utility's Closing Argument (Mar. 2017) OUCC's Closing Argument
(Apr. 2017)IURC Order (Jan. 2018) Requested/Recommended Increases in Overall Annual Revenues Water 50.1% 39.2% 18.5% 37.5% Sewer 30.7% 16.1% 10.8% 14.9% The OUCC issued a 2016 news release to invite consumer comments.
To view the IURC rate case file, click here.
- SIA Tracker
4-24-2024