CenterPoint Files Gas Rate Hike Proposal

Evansville IN

12 September, 2021

9:51 AM

Description

By Steve Burger, WNIN Sept. 12, 2021 CenterPoint Energy gas customers would see another rate increase under a natural gas pipeline upgrade plan filed Friday. A release from CenterPoint announcing a filing with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission calls the rate hike "modest" and says no customer will see an increase until 2023. Friday's filing aon the IURC web portal does not contain any specific proposed rate increases, but says the company seeks to recover the costs of the pipeline upgrades. It says they are needed to meet safety standards. But how much is your natural gas bill going to go up to pay for the $280 milliion project cost? CenterPoint spokesperson Alyssia Oshodi said in response to an email question that specific rate increase proposals will be decided at a later date and added to their filing with the IURC. A spokesman for the IURC confirmed that is normally the case for such projects. An Evansville Fire Department official says he was reminded of the 9/11 attacks when local firefighters trained inside Evansville's tallest building. The City of Evansville is offering a new way to schedule a heavy trash pickup. CenterPoint Energy wants to replace the coal-burning A.B. Brown Power Plant in Posey County with two natural gas turbines. WNIN is the NPR/PBS affiliate in Evansville, Indiana. We serve Southwestern Indiana, Western Kentucky and Southern Illinois from our multimedia facility located on the Ohio River in downtown Evansville. For the past several years, the recognized quality of our local news has placed us among the best small market radio news organizations in the nation.