The average resident in Indiana is paying $28 a month more for electricity than they did last year. That’s according to an analysis by the group Citizens Action Coalition which looked at electric bills from Indiana’s five investor-owned utilities.
Two years ago, Indiana passed a law that requires the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to take five things into account when making its decisions: reliability, affordability, resiliency, stability and environmental sustainability.
CAC Program Director Ben Inskeep said 2025 marked the highest year-over-year jump in electric bills in two decades — which he said shows the law isn’t working.
“For example, NIPSCO customers in northwest Indiana are seeing a nearly $50 a month bill increase this past year. So we're talking really big numbers that we just don't have any precedence for here,” Inskeep said.
NIPSCO had the highest average electric bill increase followed by CenterPoint with an average increase of $44 per month. Indiana Michigan Power had the lowest at $6 per month.
Inskeep said there are a lot of factors driving these rate increases. Natural gas is more expensive this year. Utilities are recovering the cost of coal ash cleanups and pollution control technology at their coal plants.
READ MORE: Bill lays out Indiana statewide energy plan, reliability requirements for utilities
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Inskeep said Indiana utilities have also cut deals with industrial users in rate increases, saddling residents with more of the costs.
“Finally, I'd also note that just the utility profit margins are astronomical. We're talking about large profits these utilities are getting. And that's a commonality across all utilities. They all have very high rate of returns or return on equities that compensate their shareholders," he said.
Inskeep said now that utilities are allowed to recover the cost of developing small nuclear plants — whether or not they get finished — rates will likely climb even higher.
The Indiana Energy Association — which represents major electric utilities in the state — couldn’t be reached for comment.
Rebecca is our energy and environment reporter. Contact her at rthiele@iu.edu or on Signal at IPBenvironment.01. Follow her on Twitter at @beckythiele.