CenterPoint Energy/Vectren South Gas Rates
The CenterPoint Energy/Vectren South natural gas service territory covers the southwestern Indiana counties formerly served by Southern Indiana Gas & Electric Co. (SIGECO).
To compare average natural gas bills, see the IURC's monthly residential surveys.
Key components in a natural gas bill include:
- Base rates
- Gas costs
- Trackers
- Base Rates
CenterPoint Energy Indiana South has received approval of new base rates in Cause No. 45447. Base rates cover a natural gas utility's operating, maintenance, and infrastructure costs.
In its Oct. 6, 2021 order, the IURC approved a settlement agreement among the OUCC, industrial customers, Direct Energy Business Marketing, and CenterPoint Energy.
- Commission Order
- Settlement Agreement
- OUCC Settlement Testimony
- CenterPoint Energy Settlement Testimony
The approved agreement will allow for an increase of $20.5 million while reducing the monthly fixed charges on a residential natural gas bill from $25.10 to $16.50. By comparison, the utility initially requested an annual increase of $29.6 million.
The OUCC's Feb. 19, 2021 news release summarizes the agency's testimony, which recommended reducing the utility's request to $14.3 million.
Our infographic outlines the steps in a base rate case. An IURC public field hearing was held on Feb. 1, 2021 in Evansville, and the OUCC issued a Jan. 15, 2021 news release to invite public comments.
All publicly filed documents are available in the IURC's online case file.
Electric rates were not at issue in this case. New gas rates for the utility's North service territory have been approved in a separate docket.
Vectren South's previous base rate order received IURC approval in 2007.
- Quarterly Gas Cost Adjustments
Natural gas utilities buy gas for their customers in a competitive wholesale market. Indiana law allows utilities to adjust rates every three months to recover changes in those costs, which can go up or down. These costs comprise a significant portion of a residential bill and are recovered through the Gas Cost Adjustment (GCA) process.
- Utilities may recover wholesale gas costs on a dollar-for-dollar basis but may not profit on them.
- Before adjusting rates to reflect the costs, a utility must demonstrate that it has shopped prudently in the competitive market.
- Each GCA filing requires OUCC review and IURC approval.
The utility's most recent adjustment was approved in Cause No. 37366 GCA-161. It will affect bills for February, March, and April 2024.
- Infrastructure Plans
State law allows natural gas and electric utilities to seek IURC approval of 5-to-7-year plans for infrastructure improvements. If a plan is approved, the utility may then seek incremental rate increases as the projects proceed. Most costs are recovered through the Transmission, Distribution, and Storage System Improvement Charge (TDSIC). Vectren South's first gas TDSIC plan received Commission approval in 2014. Its new five-year plan in Cause No. 45612 received Commission approval in April 2022.
- Additional Resources
An informational docket regarding the Vectren/CenterPoint merger was filed in 2018 (Cause No. 45109). The OUCC filed testimony on August 27, 2018.
OUCC Publications:
1-31-2024