The Lake County Council, at its Tuesday morning meeting, joined the United Steelworkers Local 12775 in their request to strengthen NIPSCO’s staffing, reliability and storm response following the Aug. 11 derecho.
The council follows suit of several Porter County governing bodies — including the commissioners, Portage City Council and Chesterton Town Council — who showed their support for the union’s petition asking to investigate the utility company.
Lake County Councilman Charlie Brown, D-3rd, was absent from Tuesday’s meeting. The council approved the resolution in a 6-0 vote.
Union President Ryan Baker and Vice President Pierce Kelly addressed the council and presented the petition Tuesday. According to council documents, the union also sent the petition to Gov. Mike Braun, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, general assembly, office of the utility consumer counselor, NIPSCO, local mayors, county commissioners and northern Indiana’s state and federal representatives.
“My concern is simple,” Baker said at Tuesday’s meeting. “When staffing is low, emergency response, storm restoration, everyday services, all suffer.”
According to the petition, the union — and supporting governing bodies — want NIPSCO to “prioritize investment in a robust local utility workforce” to serve communities, maintain critical infrastructure and respond rapidly during emergencies like the August derecho.
The petition calls for an increase to local frontline staffing; strengthened storm response capabilities; commitment to permanent skilled workforce development; prioritization of local workers and contractors; increased transparency; and regulatory oversight from the IURC and other state agencies focused on utility reliability.
The union believes NIPSCO relies on out-of-state contractors and isn’t staffing enough linemen. The staffing issues were shown in the response to the Aug. 11 derecho, Baker said.
“After the recent devastating storm, crews worked long hours, responding to gas emergencies, power restoration needs, down lines and public safety concerns across Porter and Lake counties,” Baker said. “But we know the storm isn’t what caused the problem — it’s what exposed it.”
A few years ago, Baker said the union had 230 linemen in their service territory, but now they have about 180.
“That’s 800 man hours per day during the storm that our customers miss out on,” he said.
While staffing has been cut, customers have seen utility bills rise and more work shifted to out-of-state contractors, Baker said. He believes out-of-state workers should supplement the local staff.
“We’re needed to keep our community safe,” Baker said. “Our local workers live here, pay taxes here, raise families here and respond when our neighbors need it most.”
The petition doesn’t ask for a “specific headcount” of linemen, Baker said, but it asks for “transparency, accountability and serious investigation” into if staffing levels are sufficient to protect the public and provide services.
Councilman Pete Lindemulder, R-4th, asked how reduction in linemen staffing works. Baker said, as far as the union can tell, there’s no system in place to account for attrition.
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“As linemen age out, as they seek other opportunities, we will see our feeder system, our apprenticeship programs, kind of wither,” Baker said. “Historically, we would do two line schools a year. We’ve seen that drop to one line school a year, and some years, we’ve had no line schools.”
Councilman Randy Niemeyer, R-7th, told Baker that he appreciates the work the union has done to showcase system issues following the derecho.
“I think we definitely saw a lot of weaknesses,” Niemeyer said. “As you said, the (out-of-state) contractors are not necessarily your enemy, but it seems to be a push to eliminate skilled tradesmen that are working every day in the gas and electric sites in favor of the contracting group.”
Gary Councilman Darren Washington, D-at large, who’s also a county council candidate, thanked council members during public comment for their support of the union and for voicing concerns with NIPSCO’s storm response.
The Gary Common Council has passed resolutions against high NIPSCO bills. Washington said he’s urged surrounding communities to do the same after the August storm, especially when looking at how NIPSCO might recover storm costs and how utility trackers affect bills.
“I’m trying to keep calm because this is very upsetting,” Washington said. “Because the price gouging comes into effect, and when my constituents … say, ‘I don’t have $1,200 … when it literally costs maybe $150 to $300.’ That is ludicrous.
A NIPSCO spokesperson didn’t send a statement reacting to the petition and council vote by deadline Tuesday afternoon.