The location of a proposed CenterPoint wind project is being kept under wraps. Here's why

EVANSVILLE – The location of a proposed wind energy project that could bring yet another increase in CenterPoint customers’ bills is being kept under wraps – at least for now.

Erin Merris and Alyssia Oshodi, spokeswomen for the utility, said details on the $636 million project have been redacted from filings with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission because a contract with the developer of the facility hasn’t been finalized.

“We’re not keeping anything a secret,” Oshodi said.

Black bars cover any mention of the turbine facility’s proposed location in testimonies filed with the IURC, and attachments are marked “confidential” in bold, all-caps letters.

Merris and said Oshodi said details about the project will be released once contracts are approved.

What is known, though, is that it will all be out of the state. And Evansville-area customers will still have to pay for it.

For subscribers:CenterPoint bills have gone up in Evansville-area over last 5 years. Here's how much.

Like with local coal plants, the energy generated by turbines will be flushed into the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) power grid and funneled into Evansville-area homes.

“It’s 100 percent CenterPoint Energy’s generating resource,” Merris said. “So customers will receive the benefits of a clean, renewable source.”

CenterPoint sought out-of-state bids, Merris said, because available space for wind projects in Indiana is “scarce.” A proposed wind project from E.ON Climate & Renewables that would have stretched across Gibson and Posey counties folded after area citizens claimed turbines would interfere with a local weather radar tower.

The IURC hasn’t approved the project. Despite that, CenterPoint has already set a target date for when it could go live: Jan. 1, 2025.

Asked if CenterPoint assumes the IURC will OK the project, Oshodi and Merris said they’re “hopeful” it will.

Several groups are trying to intervene in the project. They range from consumer advocacy group Citizens Action Coalition to a collective of manufacturers and fossil fuel companies calling itself the CenterPoint Energy Indiana South Industrial Group. Members include Toyota Manufacturing of Indiana, CountryMark and Consolidated Grain and Barge of Mount Vernon.

$1 billion in profits

According to Indiana’s Office of the Utility Consumer Counselor, the facility could add $20 a month to an average customer’s bill. The increase would likely kick in some time in 2024.

Merris and Oshodi disputed that $20 figure, saying the long-term effects of the wind project would eventually offset that increase.

“A lot of the savings associated with the coal plant retirements will be passed on to the customers in the next general rate case,” Merris said. “So that $20 will not end up being $20.”

Still, any increase could burden Evansville-area customers already beset with the highest residential electric rates in Indiana.

Natural gas bills are high, too. According to the IURC’s January bill survey, CenterPoint South customers paid the fourth-highest heating rates in Indiana. That comes after Evansville-area residents saw a 271% leap in distribution fees last winter.

Oshodi and Merris said energy pumped in from the wind project would help shield from fluctuating fuel costs.

According to its latest SEC filings, CenterPoint reported about $1 billion in profit in 2022. That’s down from $1.4 billion last year, the Houston Chronicle reported, but still enough for CEO David Lesar to call 2022 a “great year” for the utility in an earnings call transcript obtained by the Courier & Press.

So with all that success, why doesn’t CenterPoint pay for the new facility itself and spare customers an additional expense on their bills?

When the Courier & Press posed that question directly, the company said in a statement that it “remains focused on both our obligations to our shareholders and our commitment to operate and invest in the safety and reliability of our systems for the benefit of our communities and the customers we serve.”

“Our revenues represent the income we generate from customers and are based primarily on rates set by our regulators,” it continued. “Operating costs incurred to serve customers must be subtracted from revenues to derive the net income of the businesses, and these amounts do not represent cash flows.”

The IURC is accepting written comments from residents who want to make their feelings on the wind project known.

Comments can be sent to the OUCC via its website, email at uccinfo@oucc.IN.gov or by mail addressed to Public Comments Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor (OUCC) 115 W. Washington St., Suite 1500 South, Indianapolis, IN 46204.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Where is CenterPoint building a wind energy project?