Gov. Mike Braun removed former state senator Andy Zay as chairman of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, just six months after Zay took over the role, and appointed Anthony Swinger as the commission’s next leader.
“Effective immediately, I am naming Anthony Swinger the new chairman of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission,” Braun said in a statement posted on Twitter/X last week. “Affordability is my top priority and I am confident Chairman Swinger will deliver on that priority for Hoosiers.”
Zay will stay on the commission. Under Indiana law, the governor may remove members from the panel “for cause,” but Braun didn’t do that.
Kerwin Olson, executive director of Citizens Action Coalition, said the organization disagreed with Braun removing Zay as chairman and the precedent the action sets.
“We have always expressed concern over undue political influence of the regulatory process. We believe strongly that the IURC should be an independent agency that is free and clear from the political influence of any politician or either political party,” Olson said. “It’s their job to review these cases based on the evidence of record and state policy and make decisions based on facts not based on the wishes and whims of any politician.”
The coalition has a good working relationship with Swinger, Olson said.
“He’s a friend of (Citizens Action Coalition), and we’re excited that he’s the new chair. I never would’ve thought that we would have a consumer advocate like him chairing the IURC. So that’s a good thing, but again, that doesn’t change the facts leading up to his appointment,” Olson said.
Braun made the change days after the commission voted 3-1 to approve a $71 million electricity rate increase for AES Indiana customers, which was about 37% of what the utility initially requested and lower than a settlement agreement proposed in October.
“My top priority is affordability, which is why I am deeply disappointed by the IURC’s approval of another AES rate increase,” Gov. Braun said after the vote. “Hoosiers have spent years tightening their belts and making tough decisions. It’s time for utility companies to do the same.”
Last year, the Office of Utility Consumer Counselor recommended that state regulators deny AES Indiana’s request, which would have meant a $193 million base rate increase, and instead proposed a $21 million reduction in current rates.
Zay, David Veleta and David Ziegner supported the increase, while commissioner Bob Deig voted no.
Swinger recused himself from the vote as he worked on the case when he was worked in the consumer counselor’s office.
Zay discussed his decision-making process after the June 17 meeting.
“There’s a lot of eyes on this order and what we’re doing today,” Zay said. “What is before you on the floor is nearly a year’s worth of work, evidence, deliberations, and considerations that bring us to this moment in this decision. None of this was taken lightly. I want to thank my colleagues for the patience and working through this amongst the auspice of affordability, which is certainly a hot topic now, as well as the resiliency, reliability that we see in this increased demand in electricity.”
Olson said the Citizens Action Coalition opposed the settlement and requested that the commission rejected it.
“We thought it was an unbalanced, unfair settlement that disproportionately burdened residential ratepayers, unnecessarily added additional bill increases at a time when nobody can afford it, so we were opposed to the settlement and not happy at all with that order,” Olson said.
A day after the vote, Braun called on the commission to rehear the case.
“Yesterday’s decision by the (Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission) to allow another rate increase by AES is unacceptable,” Braun said in a statement. “When I appointed Abby Gray as the ratepayer advocate at the Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, I knew she would help me fight for Hoosiers.”
He called on Gray to petition the IURC for a reconsideration and rehearing of the case, adding, “My priority is improving affordability for Hoosiers.”
Gray said her staff “will work diligently to make this filing on behalf of ratepayers.”
Braun appointed Zay to the commission in December, along with Swinger and former state senator Bob Deig. Zay, a Huntington Republican, had served in the Indiana Senate since 2016 but resigned from the Senate in January to assume the regulatory role.
At the time, Braun said Hoosiers had faced “excessive and unnecessary utility rate increases for too long” and pledged that his appointees would help prioritize affordability for utility customers.
The Indiana Capital Chronicle contributed.
