IPL wins retiree benefit dispute
Indianapolis Power & Light could have been on the hook for more than $100 million in retirement benefits, but a ruling this month by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission allows IPL to keep the money.
Indianapolis Power & Light could have been on the hook for more than $100 million in retirement benefits, but a ruling this month by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission allows IPL to keep the money.
In a case with huge financial implications for Indianapolis Power & Light and Virginia parent AES Corp., a labor union and
16 IPL retirees have asked regulators to force the utility to pay up to $115 million to back-fund a retirement plan it spun
off in 2001.
The glacial-but-steady move to renewable-energy sources by Indiana’s coal-dominated electric utilities is picking up speed
and could spur demand for locally manufactured power-plant components.
The cost of a pollution-control project at Indianapolis Power & Light’s Harding Street generating station has soared over
budget by $60 million, or 38 percent, and the utility wants its 465,000 customers in Marion County and nine others to help
foot the bill.
The state’s public access counselor says Indiana’s utility regulators failed to make a legal case for keeping information
about Indianapolis Power & Light’s controversial “Elect Plan” out of public view.
Electric customers would gain new payment options and more access to “green power,” and Indianapolis Power & Light would have more opportunities to profit, under a plan the utility filed Aug. 23 with state regulators.