Indiana American Water files rate adjustment request

Indiana American Water has filed a rate adjustment request with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.

The American Water subsidiary says that the request reflects its $875 million in water and wastewater system improvements to be made through 2025 as well as a significant increase in the cost of procuring chemicals, goods and services.

“Indiana American Water has made significant investments in aging infrastructure and its treatment and distribution facilities to ensure service reliability, water quality, and fire protection capabilities that help protect customers and the communities we serve,” said Indiana American Water President Matt Prine. “We also remain steadfastly committed to addressing the needs of our most vulnerable customers and have included components in our request to keep their rates affordable.”

In the filing, Indiana American Water is seeking to increase revenues over a phased, three step process through May 2025 that would result in $86.7 million of additional annual revenue when fully implemented.

The subsidiary says that increases for residential wastewater customers will vary depending on the community served.

The filing included a customer affordability study, which finds that the affordability of the company’s water and wastewater services as a comparison of monthly bills to monthly household income has steadily improved over the past decade and will remain affordable under the company’s proposed rates.

The filing also includes a proposed Universal Affordability Tariff to provide multiple tiers of discounts to address the affordability needs of different levels of household income. Under the new rate structure, eligible households would receive monthly bill discounts of between 30 and 80 percent for water service.