Indiana Michigan Power's $787 million electric infrastructure plan has been denied.
It was announced Friday that the Fort Wayne-based utility will be unable to increase consumers' rates in order to pay for major improvement projects scheduled to begin this year.
Under a 2013 Indiana law, utilities can file a seven-year infrastructure plan with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, which would allow them to raise consumer rates to recover 80 percent of the costs incurred during that time.
The electric utility, an operating unit of American Electric Power (AEP), filed a plan with the IURC in 2013, which included replacing hundreds of miles of electric cable and thousands of utility poles. It would also improve I&M's line clearance plan to help reduce power outages caused by trees and branches and invest in technology that will increase the speed of power restoration.
In addition, four cities — South Bend, Elkhart, Fort Wayne and Muncie — would have received upgrades to their underground networks. The plan also called for an Oliver Plow substation to be added in South Bend to serve Ignition Park and the University of Notre Dame Turbomachinery Facility, which is scheduled to open in 2016.
I&M proposed to recover some of its costs through consumer rate increases every six months. The increases would range from 0.5 percent to 1.3 percent each year.
In a statement released Saturday, I&M said it was disappointed by the IURC decision but will continue to pursue approval of a Reliability Enhancement Program, adding the company is studying the commission’s ruling and weighing options.