Introduced Version
HOUSE BILL No. 1420
_____
DIGEST OF INTRODUCED BILL
Citations Affected: IC 8-1-2.
Synopsis: Sustainably sited generation projects. Amends the five
statutory attributes of Indiana electric utility service policy to include
sustainable siting of electric generation facility construction. Specifies
attributes of a sustainably sited electric generation facility construction
project.
Effective: July 1, 2025.
Culp
January 13, 2025, read first time and referred to Committee on Utilities, Energy and
Telecommunications.
2025 IN 1420—LS 7321/DI 119 Introduced
First Regular Session of the 124th General Assembly (2025)
PRINTING CODE. Amendments: Whenever an existing statute (or a section of the Indiana
Constitution) is being amended, the text of the existing provision will appear in this style type,
additions will appear in this style type, and deletions will appear in this style type.
Additions: Whenever a new statutory provision is being enacted (or a new constitutional
provision adopted), the text of the new provision will appear in this style type. Also, the
word NEW will appear in that style type in the introductory clause of each SECTION that adds
a new provision to the Indiana Code or the Indiana Constitution.
Conflict reconciliation: Text in a statute in this style type or this style type reconciles conflicts
between statutes enacted by the 2024 Regular Session of the General Assembly.
HOUSE BILL No. 1420
A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning
utilities.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:
1 SECTION 1. IC 8-1-2-0.6, AS ADDED BY P.L.55-2023, SECTION
2 1, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1,
3 2025]: Sec. 0.6. The general assembly declares that it is the continuing
4 policy of the state that decisions concerning Indiana's electric
5 generation resource mix, energy infrastructure, and electric service
6 ratemaking constructs must consider each of the following attributes of
7 electric utility service:
8 (1) Reliability, including:
9 (A) the adequacy of electric utility service, including the
10 ability of the electric system to supply the aggregate electrical
11 demand and energy requirements of end use customers at all
12 times, taking into account:
13 (i) scheduled; and
14 (ii) reasonably expected unscheduled;
15 outages of system elements; and
16 (B) the operating reliability of the electric system, including
17 the ability of the electric system to withstand sudden
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1 disturbances such as electric short circuits or unanticipated
2 loss of system components.
3 (2) Affordability, including ratemaking constructs that result in
4 retail electric utility service that is affordable and competitive
5 across residential, commercial, and industrial customer classes.
6 (3) Resiliency, including the ability of the electric system or its
7 components to:
8 (A) adapt to changing conditions; and
9 (B) withstand and rapidly recover from disruptions or
10 off-nominal events.
11 (4) Stability, including the ability of the electric system to:
12 (A) maintain a state of equilibrium during:
13 (i) normal and abnormal conditions; or
14 (ii) disturbances; and
15 (B) deliver a stable source of electricity, in which frequency
16 and voltage are maintained within defined parameters,
17 consistent with industry standards.
18 (5) Environmental sustainability, including:
19 (A) the impact of environmental regulations on the cost of
20 providing electric utility service; and
21 (B) demand from consumers for environmentally sustainable
22 sources of electric generation; and
23 (C) sustainably sited generation projects.
24 SECTION 2. IC 8-1-2-1, AS AMENDED BY P.L.145-2015,
25 SECTION 1, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
26 JULY 1, 2025]: Sec. 1. (a) Except as provided in section 1.1 of this
27 chapter, "public utility", as used in this chapter, means every
28 corporation, company, partnership, limited liability company,
29 individual, association of individuals, their lessees, trustees, or
30 receivers appointed by a court, that may own, operate, manage, or
31 control any plant or equipment within the state for the:
32 (1) conveyance of telegraph or telephone messages;
33 (2) production, transmission, delivery, or furnishing of heat, light,
34 water, or power; or
35 (3) collection, treatment, purification, and disposal in a sanitary
36 manner of liquid and solid waste, sewage, night soil, and
37 industrial waste.
38 The term does not include a municipality that may acquire, own, or
39 operate any of the foregoing facilities.
40 (b) "Municipal council", as used in this chapter, means the
41 legislative body of any town or city in Indiana wherein the property of
42 the public utility or any part thereof is located.
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1 (c) "Municipality", as used in this chapter, means any city or town
2 of Indiana.
3 (d) "Rate", as used in this chapter, means every individual or joint
4 rate, fare, toll, charge, rental, or other compensation of any utility or
5 any two (2) or more such individual or joint rates, fares, tolls, charges,
6 rentals, or other compensation of any utility or any schedule or tariff
7 thereof, but nothing in this subsection shall give the commission any
8 control, jurisdiction, or authority over the rate charged by a municipally
9 owned utility except as in this chapter expressly provided.
10 (e) "Service" is used in this chapter in its broadest and most
11 inclusive sense and includes not only the use or accommodation
12 afforded consumers or patrons but also any product or commodity
13 furnished by any public or other utility and the plant, equipment,
14 apparatus, appliances, property, and facility employed by any public or
15 other utility in performing any service or in furnishing any product or
16 commodity and devoted to the purposes in which such public or other
17 utility is engaged and to the use and accommodation of the public.
18 (f) "Commission", as used in this chapter, means the commission
19 created by IC 8-1-1-2.
20 (g) "Utility", as used in this chapter, means every plant or equipment
21 within the state used for:
22 (1) the conveyance of telegraph and telephone messages;
23 (2) the production, transmission, delivery, or furnishing of heat,
24 light, water, or power, either directly or indirectly to the public;
25 or
26 (3) collection, treatment, purification, and disposal in a sanitary
27 manner of liquid and solid waste, sewage, night soil, and
28 industrial waste.
29 The term does not include a municipality that may acquire, own, or
30 operate facilities for the collection, treatment, purification, and disposal
31 in a sanitary manner of liquid and solid waste, sewage, night soil, and
32 industrial waste. A warehouse owned or operated by any person, firm,
33 limited liability company, or corporation engaged in the business of
34 operating a warehouse business for the storage of used household
35 goods is not a public utility within the meaning of this chapter.
36 (h) "Municipally owned utility", as used in this chapter, includes
37 every utility owned or operated by a municipality.
38 (i) "Indeterminate permit", as used in this chapter, means every
39 grant, directly or indirectly from the state, to any corporation, company,
40 partnership, limited liability company, individual, association of
41 individuals, their lessees, trustees, or receivers appointed by a court, of
42 power, right, or privilege to own, operate, manage, or control any plant
2025 IN 1420—LS 7321/DI 119 4
1 or equipment, or any part of a plant or equipment, within this state, for
2 the:
3 (1) production, transmission, delivery, or furnishing of heat, light,
4 water, or power, either directly or indirectly to or for the public;
5 (2) collection, treatment, purification, and disposal in a sanitary
6 manner of liquid and solid waste, sewage, night soil, and
7 industrial waste; or
8 (3) furnishing of facilities for the transmission of intelligence by
9 electricity between points within this state;
10 which shall continue in force until such time as the municipality shall
11 exercise its right to purchase, condemn, or otherwise acquire the
12 property of such public utility, as provided in this chapter, or until it
13 shall be otherwise terminated according to law.
14 (j) "Communications service provider", as used in this chapter, has
15 the meaning set forth in IC 8-1-2.6-13.
16 (k) "Sustainably sited generation project", as used in this
17 chapter, means a project for construction of an electric generation
18 facility that takes into consideration the community, economic, and
19 environmental effects of the project, including through:
20 (1) avoiding and mitigating direct effects of the project on the
21 environment and natural resources;
22 (2) community outreach in the area in which the project will
23 be conducted, including:
24 (A) holding public meetings in which the proposed benefits
25 of the project are explained before construction begins;
26 (B) engaging in community education initiatives; and
27 (C) verifying to the community the project's compliance
28 with applicable state and federal environmental laws;
29 (3) incorporation of dual use planning that co-locates
30 renewable energy or other infrastructure with natural
31 resources or agricultural land;
32 (4) prioritizing use of developed land and avoiding use of
33 ecologically sensitive and natural areas;
34 (5) avoiding siting on soil identified by the United States
35 Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation
36 Service as an Indiana soil of statewide significance; and
37 (6) siting within the boundaries of existing electric
38 transmission lines.
2025 IN 1420—LS 7321/DI 119