In a letter to Governor Holcomb, consumers urged him to stand up to monopoly interests and embrace electricity transmission competition.

WASHINGTON – The Electricity Transmission Competition Coalition wrote a letter to Governor Eric Holcomb calling on him to veto HB 1420 and put consumers first. The legislation, which passed the Indiana Senate last week, will lead to significantly higher electricity prices for Hoosiers. Indiana consumers have seen the fourth highest increase in electricity prices in the nation over the past decade. Over the last five years, transmission costs in Indiana have soared by an average of 63% – HB 1420 will see those rate hikes accelerate for decades to come.

In the letter, Paul Cicio, Chair of the Electricity Transmission Competition Coalition, said: “HB 1420 would take a bad electricity affordability problem and make it worse. HB 1420 would prevent the competitive bidding of new MISO/Indiana transmission lines. The result, incumbent monopoly utilities would face no incentive to contain costs or innovate their services to provide affordable electricity to Hoosiers.”

HB 1420 is a right of first refusal law (ROFR), which have been shown to raise rates on consumers because they eliminate competitive bidding for new transmission lines and remove the incentive for the monopoly utilities to reduce costs.[1] ROFR laws are being rejected across the country by legislators because they hurt consumers, including in Iowa where the Supreme Court struck down a similar law. The Court stated that ROFR laws are “quintessentially crony capitalism” and that “the ROFR will impose higher costs”.

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About the Electricity Transmission Competition Coalition

The Electricity Transmission Competition Coalition (ETCC) is a broad-based, nation-wide coalition committed to increasing competition in America’s electricity transmission infrastructure. We advocate for common-sense policies and solutions that result in competitively priced transmission projects, which reduce energy costs for all ratepayers – from large manufacturers to residential consumers. The ETCC represents a diverse group of more than 80 companies and organizations from all 50 states, including manufacturing groups, retail electric consumers, state consumer advocates, public power representatives, think tanks, and non-incumbent transmission developers.

For more information, visit: www.electricitytransmissioncompetitioncoalition.org.

Press Contact:
Julian Graham
jgraham@signaldc.com

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[1] Brattle Group: Cost Savings Offered by Competition in Electric Transmission, https://www.brattle.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/16726_cost_savings_offered_by_competition_in_electric_transmission.pdf