Indiana utilities would be barred from charging reconnection fees

A utility would be barred from charging a customer a fee to reconnect service after it was shut off. This covers retail electric, gas, water, and wastewater providers in Indiana, including public, city-owned, nonprofit, and cooperative utilities. The fee rule would take effect July 1, 2026.

Electric and gas utilities would be barred from ending residential service during the summer period for covered homes. The home must include someone age 65 or older or age 16 or younger. The rule covers city-owned, private, and cooperative utilities. A customer could ask for service to end. A utility could also shut it off for a hazard or official order, or when it reasonably believes the customer caused fraud or meter tampering. The section would take effect July 1, 2026. The shutoff period runs June 21 through September 23 each year, but would not cover June 21 through June 30 in 2026.

Electric and gas utilities would check new accounts each month and mail information about assistance programs to identified customers. The mailings would go to new residential customers identified as age 62 or older. The information would cover programs such as help with energy bills, shutoff protection, and in-person assistance. The section would take effect July 1, 2026. Utilities would send the information by April 1 and October 1 each year.

A public utility would give a bill credit when a residential customer's electric service is interrupted. This covers residential electric customers served by public utilities. The hourly credit starts at $5 for the first full hour and rises for later full hours. The bill lists another $100 after four qualifying outages or $200 after five or more in the preceding 12 months. For an outage shorter than one hour, the formula gives no clear credit unless at least four outages lasting a full hour or more occurred in the preceding 12 months. The section would take effect July 1, 2026. The credit would appear on the first monthly bill after service returns, with any unused amount carried to later bills.