Westfield Mayor Scott Willis updated the Westfield City Council July 8 after announcing his plans to seek permission to participate in the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission rate case regarding Duke Energy’s proposed rate increase.

Westfield is one of a dozen groups and the only municipality seeking to intervene in the case. Willis’ administration has engaged with the law firm of Bose, McKinney, and Evans, LLC to represent the city, a firm he referred to as “a bulldog” with a history of “regularly winning these types of engagements.”

“I do recognize that we are growing very rapidly and that requires investments in infrastructure (but) that doesn’t hold water, in my eyes, for the increase that they are asking for,” Willis said.

Duke Energy has submitted a rate request to Indiana utility regulators, seeking an overall 16 percent tiered increase. The case was filed April 4 with the IURC and reflects an overall average bill increase of approximately 12 percent in 2025 and an additional 4 percent in 2026. The Indiana-based Citizens Action Coalition estimates users would see an average increase of $42 a month.

Willis cited Duke Energy’s net income in 2023 of $497 million as the main reason the rate hike is unnecessary.

“Duke Energy’s proposal includes costs that should quite frankly be covered by their shareholders, not the ratepayers,” Willis said, adding that the proposal includes costs for cleaning up coal ash, costs for lobbying, costs of litigation for the current rate case and cost for private aircraft.

“Folding these types of expenses into a rate that the taxpayers have to cover is just not a fair thing to ask,” Willis said.

Rebuttal testimony in the case is expected Aug. 8, and an evidentiary hearing is scheduled to begin Aug. 29. An order is expected in early 2025.