CITIZENS ACTION COALITION OF INDIANA v. DUKE ENERGY INDIANA LLC (2026)

Published Order

Pending before the Court is Duke Energy Indiana's Verified Motion for Supreme Court to Accept Jurisdiction of Appeal under Appellate Rule 56(A). Appellants have filed responses opposing the motion. Having considered the parties’ submissions and being duly advised, a majority of the Court grants the motion in part and denies the motion in part.

The Court GRANTS Duke's request for immediate transfer under Appellate Rule 56(A) and directs the Clerk to assign a Supreme Court case number, which shall be used for all future filings in this appeal. Pursuant to Rule 56(A), Appellants’ appeal of the IURC's orders shall proceed in this Court “as if it had been originally filed here,” and the pendency of this appeal does not stay further proceedings before the IURC. The Court also GRANTS Duke's request that the Court set a deadline for any motions to dismiss for lack of standing, but the Court DENIES the request to stay merits briefing pending the Court's ruling on the motion to dismiss. The Court ORDERS that the parties adhere to the following briefing schedule:

(1) The Appellants’ Brief and Appellee's motion to dismiss for lack of standing shall be filed no later than Tuesday, June 9, 2026; the Appellees’ Brief and Appellants’ response to the motion to dismiss shall be filed no later than Friday, July 24, 2026; and the Appellants’ Reply Brief and Appellee's reply in support of the motion to dismiss shall be filed no later than Friday, August 21, 2026. Extensions of these deadlines will be granted only for extraordinary circumstances.

(2) The Court will conduct oral argument on Thursday, September 17, 2026 at 10:00 a.m., with further details to be provided by separate order.

The Court further invites amicus curiae briefing on the question Duke raises in its Verified Motion: “whether Indiana should embrace the federal doctrine of associational standing adopted in Hunt v. Wash. State Apple Advert. Comm'n, 432 U.S. 333, 97 S.Ct. 2434, 53 L.Ed.2d 383 (1977).” Verified Mot. at 1. Pursuant to Appellate Rule 41(B), an entity wishing to file a brief of amicus curiae must file a motion for leave to appear as amicus and tender a proposed brief by the deadlines listed above. The court encourages the submission of joint briefs. Any amicus brief will be limited in size to no greater than ten (10) pages or 4,200 words, and any brief exceeding ten (10) pages shall conform to the word count and certification requirements found in Appellate Rule 44.

All Justices concur except Rush, C.J., and Goff, J., who vote to deny transfer because they do not believe this case presents an emergency sufficient to bypass review by the Court of Appeals.