The Gary Common Council, at its Tuesday meeting, unanimously approved a resolution regarding high Northern Indiana Public Service Company bills after months of resident concerns.
“Until this issue is rectified, residents still need to pay for their bills,” said Council Vice President Darren Washington, D-at large, who authored the resolution.
All council members were present at Tuesday’s meeting, and the resolution was approved in a 9-0 vote. The resolution passed with no discussion.
Washington said he created the resolution after hearing residents’ concerns and Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission action. He told the Post-Tribune that the Citizens Action Coalition helped him author the resolution.
“The city of Gary, Indiana, is home to tens of thousands of working families, senior citizens and low-income residents who rely upon essential utility services, including electricity and natural gas,” Washington said. “These charges have created severe financial hardship, forcing residents to choose between heating their homes and paying for food, rent, medications and other necessities.”
The resolution places NIPSCO “on official notice,” according to council documents, as the city finds delivery charges, fees and rate structures “to be excessive, harmful and economically destabilizing” to the Gary community.
Within 60 days of the resolution, the council asks NIPSCO to provide a “public-facing written explanation” for delivery charge increases within the city; infrastructure projects used to justify those charges; portion of delivery charges attributed to administrative costs, profit margins and external contractor expenses; projected rate increases in the next five years; and a “clear explanation, in plain language” about how delivery charges are calculated.
In its resolution, the council also asks NIPSCO to schedule and conduct a public hearing in the city for residents to question utility leadership about the delivery charges, affordability programs and long-term rate planning. The council also encourages Gary leadership to participate in any IURC proceedings and asks for the Indiana General Assembly to biannually review utility delivery charge actions and pursue reforms.
The council, upon the resolution’s approval, planned to distribute copies to NIPSCO leadership, the IURC, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, Gov. Mike Braun, Indiana General Assembly, Lake County Council, Lake County Board of Commissioners and the Citizens Action Coalition.
“The city of Gary has received growing public concern,” Washington said. “The NIPSCO pricing structure is not transparent, it’s difficult for customers to understand, (and) it fails to provide adequate justification for raising delivery and infrastructure costs.”
NIPSCO was unable to immediately provide a comment.
A spokesperson for the utility said in a previous statement that NIPSCO will not disconnect residential services for nonpayment through May 15. The company also held “customer care center meetings” throughout its service territory to hear from customers and offer financial relief through March 31.
NIPSCO encourages residents to visit NIPSCO.com/FinancialSupport or contact the company to review their bill and “explore options that best fit their situation.”
Since the winter, Northwest Indiana residents have raised concerns with their high NIPSCO electricity and gas bills, specifically gas delivery charges, which various have said are often higher than the cost for gas service.
Multiple protests have been held throughout the region, and the IURC hosted an investigative inquiry and community listening sessions statewide. IURC Chairman Andy Zay previously said the commission has received an unprecedented number of complaints about high NIPSCO bills, according to Post-Tribune archives.
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