State Representative Gail Riecken, City Councilman John Friend Lead Vectren Opposition Hearing

CCO Staff Writer, Tim Eckels

Indiana State Representative Gail Riecken and Evansville City Councilman John Friend, CPA were two very proud citizens of Evansville when a crowd of between 150-200 people attended Monday night’s Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission’s (IURC) field hearing on Vectren Energy Delivery’s proposed rate increase. Representative Riecken and Councilman Friend fought hard to convince the IURC to re-locate the field hearing from Indianapolis to Evansville.

Riecken said the average working person is not able to drive to Indianapolis for an IURC meeting, especially when those meetings are held on Wednesdays at 2:00 pm. Riecken wanted her community’s voices to be heard. She felt it was important for the Commission to hear and feel the emotions of the people whose lives will be directly affected by the outcome of this hearing. Riecken and Friend, with some assistance from Executive Director Kerwin Olsen of the Citizens Action Coalition, were able to convince IURC Chairman James Atterholt to oblige. Representative Riecken said Atterholt made one thing very clear to her. If he was going to drive all the way to Evansville he expected proposed solutions, not just an earful of angry citizens.

Riecken and Friend said Chairman Atterholt received precisely what he requested. Despite the rain, wind and bitter cold the people came. The attendance included a large variety of people who were courteous and respectful. The testimonies heard throughout the evening represented virtually every walk of life. Many had similar types of complaints and reasons they felt the rate increase should be denied. Except, instead of raging and returning to their seats, they provided the Commission with numerous constructive and creative ideas. The room felt both weary and enthused at the same time. An odd combination of anger and relief seemed to fill the silent voids between speakers. All of the individuals that chose to speak for the record did so with passion and articulation. There was a reassurance that no one in the room was better or worse than the person next to them. Everyone was suffering from the same things for the same reason…Vectren. The months of frustration and desire to be heard were finally over.

There are five members of the IURC. These are positions appointed by the Governor. Although legally it is only required that one commissioner be present at public field hearings, we were fortunate enough to have three of them join us. Chairman Atterholt was appointed to the Commission by Governor Daniels in 2009. Commissioner Kari Bennett, appointed by Daniels in January of this year, was also in attendance. Commissioner David Ziegner rounded out the group. Mr. Ziegner was originally appointed to the IURC in 1990 by former Governor Evan Bayh, then again by Governor O’Bannon and most recently by Governor Daniels. The two missing commissioners were Carolene Mays and Larry Landis. Vanderburgh County Commissioner Stephen Melcher stated at a recent commissioner’s meeting that he believes these positions should be elected instead of appointed. He intends to present a non-binding resolution at an upcoming council meeting to ask the state legislature to make that change. He believes doing so will remove the politics from of these types of situations. At the head table were also representatives for the Citizens Action Coalition and the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor (OUCC). The OUCC is a state funded entity that formally represents the concerns of the consumer in debates such as this.

While there were many of our current and soon-to-be office holders in attendance, (and several who were disappointingly not), Representative Riecken and Councilman Friend seemed the most prepared. Mr. Atterholt made plausible solutions a contingency of the hearing and they brought plenty. State Representative Riecken was very effective with her spoken testimony by quickly outlining a 9 step program she believes will promote a more fair system. However, the written testimony that she turned over for case evidence was much more in depth. Riecken stated that her constituents were most concerned about affordability and fairness. She recommended the following nine steps be implemented immediately for the welfare of our community:

• Promote a system that approves rates that are just and reasonable, and that include the concept of “affordability”.
• Define a system that would look at rate-making comprehensively, taking into account what other factors are impacting rate-payers in the area.
• Require all rate increase proposals to be specific, transparent and communicated in a way that the average citizen is able to understand.
• Require utilities to accept the lowest bid when awarding contracts.
• Any IURC member that leaves his or her position for an employment opportunity with a regulated company must be forced to wait an allotted amount of time before that employment can begin. She was quick to point out that this was not the first time she has made this proposition.
• The IURC needs to conduct an in-depth operational efficiency evaluation of Vectren.
• All rate proposals would be required to include a justification of “affordability”.
• In order to enable a more accurate description of just how serious “affordability” is, Vectren and every other Indiana utility company would be mandated to produce an arrearage report.
• Finally, force an opportunity for the IURC, Citizens Action Committee, State Legislature and any other interested organizations to cooperatively address a low-income affordability plan for Indiana. There are examples of this currently happening in neighbor states Illinois and Ohio. Even Washington DC is trying this approach with water rate hikes.

In her written testimony, Representative Riecken points out that having to pay a fee at a Vectren kiosk in order to pay your bill is punitive and totally unacceptable. She also quoted some staggering statistics that will hopefully catch the eyes of the commission. Riecken cites that right now 1 in 3 Hoosiers are classified as low-income, identified by a household income of $22,050/yr or less to support a home of four. More than 1 in 6 Hoosiers are currently living in poverty. Her biggest concern however is Evansville’s poverty rate of 18.4%, which is 5% higher than the Indiana state average. “Much of the area I represent is in southeast Evansville and that area represents about 41% of Evansville’s population. The poverty rate in that area is 22.6%”.

Riecken says the IURC has denied this same rate request from Vectren twice in the past. At the time their explanation was that it was illegal to justify a consumer rate increase for an expected return on an unfinished project. However earlier this year the Indiana General Assembly enacted Senate Bill 251, an amendment to the Indiana Code regarding utilities. Her concern is that this law may somehow provide a loophole for Vectren to justify its request. Representative Riecken said that if the IURC was serious the first two times and really wants to deny the increase we just provided them with an easy way out by forcing this local field hearing. She was very impressed with the recommendations made by the public at Monday’s meeting. She says that if the Commission ignores all of the great suggestions and allows SB 251 to be a vehicle for Vectren to get what they want, she will be the first and loudest person to chastise them. She voted no to SB 251 along with State Representatives Suzanne Crouch and Kreg Battles and Senator Richard Young.

City Councilman John Friend, CPA deserves commendation for being instrumental in bringing this IURC hearing to Evansville. He presented many intelligent and well-thought proposals to the Commission. He also presented the IURC with his petition of over 10,000 signatures of citizens opposed to the increase. There was a break in the hearing shortly after Councilman Friend finished his presentation. During the break Chairman Atterholt approached Councilman Friend and advised him that he would be able to submit a brief regarding objectionable points such as economic impact on the region, effects on the city budget, production of real estate values and the consequences of lower property taxes. However, Councilman Friend was two steps ahead of the chairman. He has already begun preparing written proposals and investigative inquiries into to these topics and many more that will be announced soon.

Among other recognizable people also in the audience were State Senators Vaneta Becker and Jim Tomes and State Representatives Wendy McNamara, Ron Bacon and Suzanne Crouch. All five were invited to the podium to address the commission. Surprisingly all of them did nothing but graciously thank the commissioners for making the long trip to Evansville. The crowd seemed stunned that none of the State Senators or State Representatives, other than Mrs. Riecken, had anything of substance to say in opposition of Vectren’s proposed increase. The shock seemed short-lived as mumbles around the room began to clarify that Representatives Riecken and Crouch were the only two in the group that had voted against SB 251. Soon the mumbles shifted to the speculation of how many of the others had received campaign funds from Vectren and in what amounts.

Although the hearing lasted nearly four hours there was rarely downtime. Applause became more common as the night progressed and the speakers shifted from public officials to citizens. There were a few moments of laughter that seemed to be perfectly timed to break a point of tension. As one person was returning to their seat after giving a testimonial, every light in the room turned off at once. They remained off for a few seconds before they re-lit. And then it happened again. And again. During one of the dark parts of this random cycle a voice in the room proclaimed “Ok, this is the last time I say anything bad about Vectren!” Formal mayoral candidate Rick Davis also provided small moment of comic relief for the audience. Mr. Davis and Mayor-Elect Winnecke were both at the hearing for the entire duration. When Mr. Davis introduced himself to the Commission he candidly introduced himself as Rick Davis, Mayor Non-Elect.

I was able to speak with both Mayor-Elect Winnecke and Mr. Davis after the hearing. Mayor-Elect Winnecke said he was there primarily to listen to the concerns of the citizens and show his support. While he did not voice any opinions regarding the rate increase, he did introduce himself to the Commission, kindly thanked them for the opportunity and welcomed them to Evansville. He thought the hearing was very well conducted and he was happy that no time constraints placed on those who wanted to speak. He felt that the commission heard a wide range of emotional anecdotal reasons to not approve Vectren’s request. He also pointed out that it would have been difficult to be on the other side of the table. The commissioners were not allowed to ask questions or respond to speakers. Mr. Winnecke said that human nature eventually kicks in and there has to be some curiosity on the side of the commissioners. After listening to the difficult and trying struggles of the audience, he said that he would want to connect with the people in order to clarify where things may have gone wrong and how they could have been fixed. The body language portrayed by some of the panel members throughout the evening clarified his suspicions.

Mr. Davis has been fighting this battle since the day it was announced. He told the Commission everything his supporters would have expected him to tell them. It almost appeared as if he were still in campaign mode. His tone towards the Commission was stern and confident. He pointed out how undeniably unfair it would be to raise residential rates by $1.08 while commercial customers would only see an increase of $0.57. He also stated that if the standard of living for many realms of life in Evansville is relatively low on a 100 point scale, our standard of living concerning utilities reached the 100 point marker long ago and continues to climb. After the hearing I asked Mr. Davis how effective he felt this process had been towards the fight to hold back Vectren. He personally felt that the sentiment of the room was a resounding “NO” and we can only hope that sentiment carries over until the IURC makes their final decision.

It was very disappointing that not a single member of the Vanderburgh County Budgetary Committee was at the hearing. Aside from Councilman Friend, City Councilman Dan McGinn was the only current council member at the hearing. Our other city council members recently endured a two hour long presentation by Vectren President/CEO Carl Chapman but their absence from the field hearing suggests they can’t take the time to hear their own constituents’ rebuttals.

It was nice to see some of our political newcomers taking an interest. Great things will happen to Evansville if these fresh faces stay involved. Regardless of election outcomes there were many candidates in attendance. Incoming 6th Ward City Councilman Al Lindsay and 3rd Ward City Councilwoman Stephanie Brinkerhoff-Riley were spotted as well as former City Clerk candidate J.D. Strouth and former 3rd Ward candidate Alan Leibundguth.

In total there were approximately 30 people that had a chance to speak their minds Monday night. Tom Loesch Jr. stated that he has kept up with all of Vectren’s “energy efficiency tips” and yet the electricity portion of his utility bill has still doubled in the last 6 years. He was also very bold in telling the IURC commissioners that he felt their trip to Evansville was not as special as everyone else made it out to be. He said it should have been expected from the beginning. Posey county resident Ryan Zaricki started Whole Sun Design just a few months ago. This young entrepreneur is building a business selling and installing solar-electric and solar-thermal energy systems. He admitted to the commissioners that he stands to personally profit from the rising rates of Vectren. The more expensive electricity gets, the more consumers will consider his product. Yet he still adamantly opposed the proposal stating “it’s just not right”.

If you were unable to attend Monday’s Hearing there is still an opportunity for your opinion to be heard. You can write to the Indiana Office of Utility Counselor to voice your opposition. All letters received by December 9th will be legally entered into the hearing records. Address your correspondence to David Stippler, 115 W. Washington Street, Suite 1500 South, Indianapolis IN 46204. Reference Cause #44067 and request that the OUCC include your comments in the records. You can also call (888) 441-2494 or visit uccinfo@oucc.IN.gov.