NIPSCO

Indiana's utility regulatory commission opened an investigation into rising energy costs, questioning the state's five investor-owned utilities at a public hearing as customer complaints hit record levels.

If built, it would have the potential to put out the third most greenhouse gas emissions of any industrial facility in the state.

Several electric utilities in Indiana are looking to build new power plants to meet the huge energy demand from AI data centers — and that comes with a hefty price tag. The northern Indiana utility NIPSCO said setting up a separate company would protect its other customers from those extra costs.

The average resident in Indiana is paying 28 dollars a month more for electricity than they did last year. That's according to an analysis by the group Citizens Action Coalition that looked at electric bills from Indiana's five investor-owned utilities.

For years, activists with Just Transition Northwest Indiana have urged the utility to remove the coal ash on the site — both its coal ash ponds and ash used to fill holes on the plant's property.

When NIPSCO tested the area’s soil to find out how much toxic heavy metals naturally occur there, it included a sample with coal ash in it — making those levels look abnormally high.

Activists say NIPSCO's customers shouldnt have to pay for what they call an incomplete cleanup.

A new report said steel walls near the Michigan City coal plant aren't keeping coal ash waste from getting into Lake Michigan and Trail Creek -- and it will likely get worse over time.

The utility plans to test for toxic heavy metals at about 400 homes and businesses where coal ash was used as fill in construction.

The state said the company failed to timely find or mark some of its pipelines -- which could have caused natural gas explosions.