Gov. Mike Braun will have the opportunity to exert his influence on Indiana's soaring energy costs after two of the state's five utility regulators announced Wednesday they are resigning their posts in October.
Wes Bennett, a member of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission since 2023, and Sarah Freeman, an IURC commissioner since 2016, are quitting next month instead of waiting for their terms to expire early next year.
Neither of the longtime public servants gave a specific reason why they're leaving early. IURC Chairman Jim Huston previously announced in May that he will also retire in January 2026, after more than a decade overseeing the state's utilities.
The exits give Braun, a Republican, the chance to appoint a majority of the IURC board amid growing public outrage over Hoosier electric bills that have jumped by an average of 29.1% from 2015 to 2023.
In June, the IURC authorized the electric utility serving Northwest Indiana, NIPSCO, to raise its rates by 16.75% for the average residential customer over the next two years, following a 10% rate hike implemented over the previous two years.
"Hoosiers have been burdened with utility rate increase after increase. We can't take it anymore," Braun said Wednesday.
To that end, Braun said he's appointed Abby Gray to serve as the new head of the Indiana Office of the Utility Consumer Counselor, which advocates on behalf of Hoosier ratepayers at the IURC.
Gray replaces former state Rep. Bill Fine, R-Munster, who retired last month after eight years on the job.
"I have dedicated my career to public service, and it's the honor of a lifetime to continue to serve Indiana ratepayers in this new role. I am deeply humbled and appreciative of Governor Braun's confidence in me and look forward to advocating for Indiana utility consumers," she said.
Braun said Gray's first tasks will be evaluating utilities' profits and identifying cost savings measures that could ease the burden on ratepayers.
"I would also like to see the utilities' investors bear more of the cost of doing business," Braun said.
That's seemingly a change from earlier this year when Braun signed into law Senate Enrolled Act 424, sponsored by state Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, authorizing Indiana's investor-owned utilities to immediately pass along to ratepayers their costs to develop, or even just contemplate, small modular nuclear reactors — regardless of whether a utility ever actually constructs or operates one.
Under the plan, the IURC can approve a utility's request for higher electricity rates to cover 80% of the utility's nuclear development expenses up front, with the remaining 20% included in the utility's next rate case.
Braun is leading the charge for nuclear energy in Indiana, which currently has none, despite the astronomical cost of nuclear compared to other energy sources and the fact that small modular nuclear reactors currently aren't commercially viable or available.
The governor's Strategic Energy Growth Task Force is due to report by Dec. 31 its initial plans for meeting Indiana's demand for reliable, affordable energy.
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