Authored by: Representative Alaina Shonkwiler Referred to: House Committee on Utilities, Energy, and Telecommunications
The gist: Intended by its authors to help address Hoosiers’ skyrocketing electric bills, 1002 opens an important conversation about affordability and consumer protections but needs strengthening before HEC can support.
HEC’s analysis: HB 1002 puts forth several measures its authors intend to address Indiana’s rising electricity rates. The bill’s first provision would require all electric utilities governed by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) to automatically enroll all customers in a “budget plan,” while providing an option to opt out. It also requires utilities to establish low-income assistance programs and prohibits utility disconnections during extremely hot days. The biggest idea in the bill is the creation of performance incentive mechanisms (often referred to as “Performance Based Ratemaking”) for utilities related to affordability and grid resilience.
HEC supports the HB 1002’s goals of energy affordability and protections for low-income Hoosiers, and we’ve offered multiple recommendations for improvements that we believe increase its chances of meeting those goals. We’ll continue to follow this bill and hope to see it strengthened.
Update 2/12/26: HB 1002 passed unanimously out of the Senate Committee on Appropriations today and is headed to the Senate floor.
Update 2/26/26: HB 1002 has been signed into law.
To access the full text of this bill, click here. To see the latest actions on this bill, click here.
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