Members of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission held a listening session in Evansville Tuesday evening, and they received an earful. WNIN’s John Gibson was there:
They heard from elected leaders like Mayor Stephanie Terry about recent steep hikes in CenterPoint Energy bills:
"People are angry, they are afraid, and they are doing everything they can to keep up with energy costs that continue to rise despite their best efforts to conserve."
Vanderburgh County Commissioner Mike Goebel raised the issue of CenterPoint being the only choice in the Evansville area:
"Is there any way that we can push for competition against CenterPoint? I don't know."
A Posey County resident, Don Mattingly, talked about a frequent complaint: long waits on the phone and poor customer service from CenterPoint:
"But I think the issue with me is that there's a culture of assuming that the client cannot be correct and it's always the company that's correct."
And Mary Barr of Evansville criticized the commission for allowing CenterPoint rate increases:
"We have been greatly injured by your decisions, and your continuing decisions on regulations concerning how CenterPoint can charge so much more and continue to raise our costs."
CenterPoint officials told the commission last month that it’s trying to reduce costs and is holding frequent events to connect with customers.
The IURC says it will continue listening sessions across the state through April before considering any action.
Members praised a new state law that gives them more tools to hold utility companies accountable.
