Citizens Action Coalition Executive Director Kerwin Olson feels something in the air lately when it comes to Indiana’s utilities and the people who’re in charge of regulating them.
It won’t be a sea change, but there’s a mood among legislators he hasn’t seen in perhaps the 25 years he’s helmed the state’s oldest and largest advocacy organization, he said Thursday night. That feeling is fear.
“There’s a reason (State Representative Ed) Soliday (R-Valparaiso) is having the (Interim Study Committee on Energy, Utilities, and Telecommunications) meeting in Indianapolis instead of up here like we requested,” Olson said after a town hall put on by new advocacy group Power on NWI at Trinity Lutheran Church in Gary. “He knew there would be at least 1,000 to 2,000 people here, and none of them are happy.”
Currently, the agenda lists testimony from Purdue professor Dan Chavas on the development of the Aug. 11 storm and Reliability First’s Strategic Engagement Director Brian Thiry on vegetation management practices in the morning and an opportunity for public comment in the afternoon.
Around 50 unhappy NIPSCO customers attended Thursday’s town hall in which state lawmakers and other dignitaries called for utility reforms. Gary Council Vice President Darren Washington, D-At-Large, said he’s sent copies of the City of Gary’s April resolution demanding NIPSCO give a “public-facing written explanation” for delivery charge increases within the city to various agencies and municipalities.
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“We (as lawmakers) represent a census, and we are paid by you. People shouldn’t have to pay $600 and $700 for our utilities,” Washington said. “The goal of the enemy is to wipe out the middle class, so we need to go down and raise some Hell and show a front.”
State Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary, told the crowd he would put up his own money toward either procuring busses or helping with gas costs for people “upset enough” to want to drive to Indianapolis for the IURC meeting September 29, scheduled to start at 9 a.m. central time. He asked why the company is charging fees for product people aren’t necessarily using.
“People do to you what you let them,” Smith said. “Are you upset enough to do something about it?”
State Rep. Ragen Hatcher, D-Gary, who’s also the Gary Sanitary District’s executive director, said her office discovered the GSD’s backup generator hadn’t been upgraded for 25 years when the generator didn’t switch over, and the office went without power for four days after the Aug. 11 derecho. They’d been paying NIPSCO for it, though, she said.
“We still got our bill right on time,” she said. “For (Gary), it’s not just about the community; it’s city infrastructure. It’s been an absolutely heartbreaking time in the city of Gary, the toughest time I can remember. Everyone suffered in this city.”
Attendees voiced their concerns as well. One woman, whose power was out for two days after the June 11 storm that destroyed a wide swath of Merrillville, wondered why she was charged a $25 delivery fee for using only $1.40 worth of gas.
“Whenever I hear rain, I worry, ‘Am I going to have power?’” she said. “I missed church because we had a teaspoon of rain and I didn’t have power for four hours.”
Rob Rich, of Merrillville, suggested that all the groups fighting against the utilities statewide should band together to lessen the chance for disinformation. Trinity Lutheran’s the Reverend Emmett Mosley, on the other hand, asked for everyone to get their friends, families and congregations fired up to fight.
“This should be a sermon in Valparaiso, Portage, Lake Station and Hobart. We have no right to be silent on this,” Mosley said. “We need them to introduce new legislation.”
Perhaps the biggest thing people need to do to combat the unfair legislation, however, is the one thing people don’t seem to want to do, Washington added: vote.
“Out of 48,000 registered voters in Gary, 8,400 voted. And it gets worse: In Hammond, only 5,400 voted. Now that the lights are back on, people won’t see the sense of urgency,” Washington said. “But Ed Soliday, who’s chairing the Tuesday meeting, in 2024 took $2,500 and $25,000 from NiSource for his campaign.”
On Aug. 25, the Indiana Office of the Utility Consumer Counselor filed a petition for the IURC to investigate, according to filings. NIPSCO filed a response to the petition on Aug. 28, saying it agreed “to a limited scope” in the investigation, the Post-Tribune previously reported.
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According to the filings, NIPSCO must answer questions in eight areas, including data about customers who were without power, for how long and in which areas; total damage to the electric infrastructure and any necessary upgrades; a detailed report on restoration efforts, including deployment of utility crews and contractors; how mutual assistance from utilities was utilized; any staffing, equipment, vehicle, supply chain limitation and other challenges in the storm restoration process; communication with customers before, during and after the storms; communication between NIPSCO, local governments and emergency management agencies; and any resources that were used to monitor and predict weather conditions.
A NIPSCO spokesperson responded to the IURC announcement in a Wednesday statement.
“This was an unprecedented storm that caused extraordinary damage across northern Indiana,” the statement said. “We are committed to cooperating with the IURC in the investigation that was commenced today, including providing information regarding our storm preparation and response, as well as our operations and ongoing efforts to serve our customers safely and reliably.”
Northwest Indiana residents interested in joining the caravan to the September 29 IURC meeting in Indianapolis should call 219-880-0850.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.