Indiana utility regulators to investigate NIPSCO
The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission is officially launching an investigation into NIPSCO.
According to reporting from FOX 59, IURC chairman Anthony Swinger confirmed that they are looking into the Northern Indiana Public Service Company after hundreds of thousands of people were without power for an extended period of time in northwest Indiana following last month’s severe storms.
“We are required to take a balanced view of the company’s concerns and actions along with the concerns that have been raised by customers,” Swinger told FOX 59. “We are going to do our job diligently here.”
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun had pushed for the investigation soon after the storms in August hit a majority of the state. Flooding affected many communities in central Indiana, while Hoosiers in counties like Lake, LaPorte, and Porter suffered serious wind damage, leading to being in the dark for multiple weeks.
“This was something out of the ordinary but this investigation will look at it broadly,” Gov. Braun said while touring the Red Cross Indiana headquarters in downtown Indianapolis on Tuesday.
Braun has been consistent about making the state more affordable ever since he was elected governor, but said NIPSCO is not helping in the utility category.
“That goes for not only what you’re paying for that electricity, but what you’re paying to make sure it stays on,” he said.
It’s unclear what consequences NIPSCO could face, if any, if the IURC finds them at fault.
There were more than 370,000 customers who lost power in northwest Indiana during the height of the severe storms on Aug. 11.
