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Environmentalists Protest Indiana Energy Bill Outside Vectren Offices

Isaiah Seibert
/
WNIN

A handful of protesters held a blank check outside of Vectren, a CenterPoint Energy Company’s Evansville offices Thursday afternoon. They were speaking out against a bill that recently passed the Indiana house with bipartisan support.

"1470’s got to go! 1470 just say no!" they chanted at the Sierra Club-organized protest.

Indiana House Bill 1470 allows energy companies to fund more types of projects through trackers, a special charge on your utility bill, instead of through the more rigorous rate case process.

Opponents say it gives energy companies a blank check, paid for by utility customers.

"If they’re going to spend our money, we need to give them the okay through a public rate hearing," said Jean Webb, a volunteer for the Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign. "We need those regulations. We can’t let the statehouse keep erasing those regulations that are meant to protect us."

A Vectren spokesperson wrote in an email to WNIN that as a member of the Indiana Energy Association, the company supports House Bill 1470.