OUCC: NIPSCO Doesn't Need To Raise Residents' Rates

A northern Indiana utility wants to raise residents' rates while giving its industrial customers the ability to access lower market prices. But a state utility consumer advocate says NIPSCO doesn’t need the rate hike.

The five industrial companies NIPSCO serves make up about 40 percent of its sales. If they left, the utility says it would have to spread the costs out to residents and commercial businesses. 

“It would result in a significant amount of costs that would then need to go to all other customers,” says Nick Meyer, spokesman for NIPSCO.

NIPSCO has proposed raising residents rates by 12 percent and charging industrial customers based on market prices. But Anthony Swinger with the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor says NIPSCO can still make industrial customers happy without raising rates.

“We want to make sure that all the customer classes, including commercial and residential, are treated fairly in the process,” he says.

The OUCC suggests the utility charge industrial companies a transition fee while it pays for some larger costs like decommissioning its coal plants, infrastructure improvements, and recovering costs of environmental upgrades. 

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Meyer says NIPSCO is considering creating a program to help their low-income customers pay bills.

NIPSCO will hold a public hearing on its rate case on Monday, March 11 at 6 p.m. at the Hammond High School Auditorium. People have until the March 13 to comment. 

Indiana Environmental reporting is supported by the Environmental Resilience Institute, an Indiana University Grand Challenge project developing Indiana-specific projections and informed responses to problems of environmental change.