Indiana URC: Beth Heline

It was May when the PUF team traveled to Indianapolis and received a warm welcome at the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission. Commissioners and Staff educated us about Indy, also known as Circle City, as the statehouse was planned around Monument Circle. It's reminiscent of Washington, and not surprising as a surveyor for Pierre L'Enfant, who designed our nation's capital city, with its many traffic circles, helped design the Indy town plan.

PUF: What do you do in your position as general counsel?

Beth Heline: I'm the legal advisor to the Chairman, the Commissioners, and to Staff. For the most part, I'm providing legal advice outside of the docketed proceedings. There's a Commission process for when petitions are submitted and, generally speaking, I'm not involved in that process. There are a couple of limited exceptions.

We don't have Commission Staff who usually provide testimony in proceedings before the Commission. So, that's one difference compared to other state Commissions. There's a separate state agency that represents consumers — the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor — and they're the ones that have that role.