INDIANAPOLIS — Gov. Mike Pence said discussion over whether he’ll sign legislation to suspend an energy efficiency program will balance the interests of conservation versus energy costs in the state.
The Indiana General Assembly approved halting the two-year Energizing Indiana program, sending the legislation to Pence for his consideration. The program focuses on reducing energy usage by homeowners and businesses with the goal of utilities ramping up their energy savings through 2019.
Pence said on Friday that conservation and promoting energy efficiency are important aspects of the state’s overall energy strategy, but indicated Indiana’s competitive edge in terms of energy costs had lessened.
“I will allow for the fact that Indiana historically had a great advantage in our utility rates when it came to competing for jobs and that’s diminished somewhat,” Pence said.
Proponents of Energizing Indiana say the initiative, which offers discounts on energy-efficient light bulbs and conducts home energy audits, among other programs, will lead to Hoosiers eventually paying less on their monthly utility bills because of the focus on energy efficiency.
But a top Republican said though Energizing Indiana is a well-intended program, the cost to run it has become more expensive than originally thought.
“The headline is ‘Senate cuts the program’ as if we don’t have a thought in our skulls about energy savings. In reality, I think we’re going to try to take this in a better direction, maybe less expensively,” Senate President Pro Tem David Long (R-Fort Wayne) said last week.
Energizing Indiana costs an average residential customer of Vectren Corp. approximately $5 to $6 per month and that amount is anticipated to increase to as much as $13 in the coming years, according to Chase Kelley, a spokesperson for the energy company. Kelley noted that large commercial and industrial users pay much more, saying in some cases “hundreds of thousands of dollars per month” depending on their energy use.
The bill, authored by Sen. Jim Merritt, R-Indianapolis, started out to allow industrial electricity users to opt out of the program but grew to include all rate payers.
Kerwin Olson, executive director of Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana — a leading consumer advocate and critic of the legislation — has said Merritt’s bill would work to kill Energizing Indiana. The state’s contract with the company that runs the program ends this year, and the legislation bars certain energy efficiency programs from being renewed after Dec. 31.
Merritt said Friday he believes Pence will sign the bill and that Indiana’s utility companies already provide energy efficiency programs. Under the bill, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission will complete a report on Energizing Indiana by August for lawmakers and Pence to use in deciding whether it should continue.
“I really, really think that we need another look at this,” Merritt said. “We need to put it through the filter.”