About three weeks after mass extended power outages in Northwest Indiana, the Lake County Council is expressing frustrations with the Northern Indiana Public Service Company.
The council, on Tuesday, will vote on a resolution opposing NIPSCO rate increases. According to the resolution, if passed, the council will send its resolution to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission for review.
On Aug. 11, 14 and 20, NIPSCO made three regulatory filings that are “routine quarterly or semi-annual proceedings” with the IURC. The filings recover NIPSCO’s fuel costs, regional transmission organization costs, and resource adequacy and reliability costs, according to a previous statement from NIPSCO.
According to Post-Tribune archives, the three filings will increase electric rates by about $7.33 per month. The increases are trackers, which “allow the utility to recover expenditures on an ongoing basis by adjusting rates on a quarterly or biannual basis for certain categories of costs,” according to the Citizen Action Coalition’s website. Trackers allow utilities to recover costs, and if they underspend, they pass back a credit to customers.
In a statement Friday, a NIPSCO representative reiterated that the filings are part of a routine review process. NIPSCO previously said the routine filings are not rate increases.
“These filings address specific costs that are reviewed through IURC-approved processes including fuel and electric grid expenses,” the statement said. “They also return credits to customers from the benefits provided by NIPSCO’s renewable energy resources, including production and investment tax credits and energy sales.
“We understand that customers are focused on affordability, and we remain committed to being transparent about the costs that make up their bill while offering tools and support to help manage their energy confidently.”
Ben Inskeep, program director for the Citizens Action Coalition, previously told the Post-Tribune that the rate increases illustrate a broader issue with Indiana policy and utility regulation.
“The general assembly has passed law after law over the past two decades that give our utilities the ability to add these tracker mechanisms or build surcharge mechanisms that allow for these frequent rate changes in between base rate changes,” Inkseep previously said.
According to Post-Tribune archives, Gov. Mike Braun, in August, asked the Indiana Office of the Utility Consumer Counselor to file a complaint and petition the IURC to investigate NIPSCO following prolonged power outages. Inskeep previously said the investigation would be separate and independent, but residents should still be frustrated as NIPSCO customers pay the highest bills in the state, according to the IURC’s annual residential bill survey.
Gary Council Vice President Darren Washington, D-at large, who is running for county council, addressed the council during their Thursday study session, saying that transmission, distribution and storage improvement charge trackers are some of the biggest problems with NIPSCO.
In 2013, the Indiana General Assembly passed a bill that allowed the trackers.
“It essentially allows NIPSCO and utilities throughout the state to be able to charge us, as ratepayers, not only for gas and electric, but for current and future investments in their infrastructure,” Washington said.
Councilman Randy Niemeyer, R-7th, told Washington that the IURC’s job is to apply state laws to rate cases, and all the legislation creating trackers and other utility issues has snowballed over the past 20 years.
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“I made a comment recently when (former Commissioner) Andy Zay was fired from the IURC,” Niemeyer said, “I said, ‘You could change every member of the IURC, but it doesn’t matter.’ Their job is to take the state laws — which are bad — and apply them to rate cases.”
Niemeyer also said he’d be happy to sign onto any resolution “that pushes a message about repealing legislation and replacing it with things that are more functional.”
Washington also addressed the prolonged power outages throughout Northwest Indiana, saying that the utility should’ve made previous investments in its infrastructure to avoid the issue.
“This is not environmental racism,” Washington said. “Portage, all of Lake County was out. … Everybody is paying the price.”
Washington also said this is the time for local governments to come together and fight for better legislation in state government that protects Indiana residents.
“The governor has said there’s a problem,” he said. “The storm should bring unity amongst parties. … It blew the cover off of NIPSCO’s hypocrisy.”