Duke Energy — one of the big five energy companies in Indiana wants to clear the record.
Indiana Utilities Regulatory Commission (IURC) conducted an Investigation Inquiry on Energy Affordability regarding the five biggest investor-owned utilities on March 24. In this inquiry, each company had time to discuss energy affordability from usage and rates leading to bills, the impact of growth on affordability and short term steps that can increase bill transparency and address rising energy costs.
Stan Pinegar, Indiana’s Duke Energy president, sat down with the Republic to discuss how Duke helps the community to mitigate some of the negative perceptions from the inquiry.
Duke Energy serves as the largest electric utility in the state serving 920,000 customers in 69 counties.
Pinegar said that Duke is the lowest-cost provider in the state with a cost of around $158 a month as of the July report. He also said that over the course of 2025, the average bill was at $149 — cheaper than other Indiana utility companies, the regional average, neighboring states and even lower than the national average.
One of Pinegar’s datapoints in the presentation he gave the IURC showing that Duke has always been one of the most cost-efficient options.
“Duke Energy Indiana’s average rate growth from July 1, 2016 through July 1, 2025 was below the Electricity Consumer Price Index, reflecting a slower rate of inflation than the electricity sector over the decade,” he said.
Another one of Duke’s major points comes from comparing the average user’s electricity usage to the average bill amount. Pinegar said that in the winter and summer months when people use their furnaces or air conditioning units more often, the cost will rise.
Clear communication is a different way that Duke serves their customers, company officials said. The company provides a mid-month usage alert to let citizens know how their bill is currently looking, a home energy report that compares a user’s data to those in similar sized houses and out of norm alerts that ping users when something abnormal seems to be happening that spikes usage.
Duke also provides users with a fully detailed bill that describes where each of the expenses come from to be as transparent with customers as possible, including “riders” that show the cost of fuel. This way, when prices rise due to long cold or hot snaps, customers can see the cost of the extra fuel/energy spread out over a few payments rather than getting hit all at once.
Pinegar said that the company prides itself on planning ahead and paying attention to changing costs. He specifically mentioned watching over aging generation facilities that might need to be replaced in the future and ensuring that the replacements will be spread out to lessen the cost of replacing them all at once. He said he knows that rising prices are one of Duke consumers’ biggest problems, but that the company wants to do all they can to combat those concerns.
“A key message that we don’t say enough is we have every interest in our customers being able to afford our bill. We don’t want to disconnect a customer,” Pinegar said.
Duke offers different payment plans and other financial help for customers who might be struggling to pay their bills on time.
One way Duke protects their customers is through a winter moratorium through the state where in the winter months, even if a customer cannot pay their bill, that customer will not be disconnected until the weather has warmed up. Once the moratorium ends, the customer is automatically placed in a 10 month payment plan to help give them time to catch up on the bill.
Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) money comes from the federal government as a way to help customers struggling to pay their bills through Human Services Inc. (HSI). Duke Energy’s program Share the Light also comes from Human Services to help the region in Bartholomew, Decatur, Jackson, Johnson and Shelby counties.
In 2025, in the HSI region, customers received over $1 million in LIHEAP and Share the Light funding spread out over 2,700 accounts.
Another option to help cut costs is the “Smart Usage” plan where customers can use their electricity at times outside of the peak hours at the beginning or end of the day. Pinegar recommended charging an electric vehicle in the middle of the night instead of right when getting home or running the water heater in the middle of the day rather than just in the morning.
Peak hours: 5-9 p.m. (6-8 a.m. winter only)
Discount hours: Midnight-4 a.m.
Off peak hours: All other hours
Doing chores like laundry or dishes during discount or off-peak hours can help save up to 7% of the overall utility bill, according to Duke’s presentation.
Yet another option to save money comes from using the home’s energy in a more effective way. Duke offers a program called Home Energy House Call where customers can either in-person or virtually meet with an energy specialist who analyzes a customer’s total home energy usage. The specialist can check the efficiency of appliances and heating/cooling systems and identify other energy-efficient ways to save.
Since 2025, 166 Bartholomew County residents participated in virtual assessments and 2,241 Bartholomew County customers used energy efficiency programs altogether.
Pinegar said he is aware that affordability and reliability are the two most important factors for consumers when it comes to their energy providers. He said that in Bartholomew County, they have a system called “self-healing technology” that anticipates when an outage might occur and stops it before it occurs.
“In 2025, we avoided nearly 9,500 outages through this technology in Bartholomew County, and avoided nearly 34,500 customer hours of interruptions,” Pinegar said.
Duke’s Columbus branch monetarily supports many local groups including the Hope Summer Munch Bag Program, Love Food Pantry and Love Chapel, Turning Point Domestic Violence Shelter, various volunteer fire departments throughout the county and many more.
“We want our communities to thrive. We want to help every customer that has a problem in any way. For us, it’s really more than just a business. It’s about being part of the community,” Tom DeBaun spokesman for the Columbus Duke Energy branch said.