(La Porte County, IN) - NIPSCO customers won’t see as much of an increase in their electric bills as originally sought under a tentative settlement in the rate hike appeal.

 

The proposed deal reached between NIPSCO and its largest customers along with the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor is now before the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission for final approval.

 

Under the tentative settlement, NIPSCO Director of Communications Wendy Lussier said the average residential electric customer using 672 kilowatt hours per month would see an increase of about $23 on their monthly bill.

 

That’s a 16.75 percent increase spread over multiple years, she said.

 

In comparison, Lussier said the 22 percent increase NIPSCO requested in September would have meant about a $32 per month increase in the average monthly bill of customers using 729 kilowatt hours of electricity per month.

 

The difference in monthly usage amounts reflects a new, lower rate for multi-family units negotiated in the proposed settlement.

 

“The proposal includes rate implementations phased over two steps to spread out the impact to customer bills,” she said.

 

The settlement includes an additional bill payment assistance program for income-qualified customers that would be funded with voluntary ratepayer contributions and $1.5 million in year from NIPSCO shareholders.

 

According to the OUCC, the lower rate increase would reduce the amount of revenue NIPSCO was hoping to generate by more than $111 million from the $257 million in extra funds the utility was originally seeking to collect.

 

In its request for a rate hike, NIPSCO cited a need to pay the roughly $2 billion cost of transitioning to renewable energy and more than $760 million for upgrades in its electric transmission and distribution systems along with other improvements to be completed by the end of this year.

 

Specifically, the settlement was agreed to by NIPSCO’s largest customers U.S. Steel, Walmart, the RV Industry Users Group and NLMK Indiana.

 

The Citizens Action Coalition is calling for the IURC to deny the agreement.

 

If approved, CAC claims the settlement would “target Hoosier families with larger rate increases so large and politically connected commercial and industrial customers can get smaller rate increases.” 

“NIPSCO’s residential customers cannot afford yet another exorbitant rate increase,” the CAC said.

 

CAC emphasized it does support the multi-family rate option and the low income assistance program contained in the agreement.

 

According to NIPSCO, it’s seeking the rate increase to pay for the cost of converting to reduce its carbon footprint as it moves from coal to wind and solar with help from natural gas.

 

The IURC, which can approve, deny or modify the proposed agreement, has scheduled a settlement hearing for March 25 with a decision expected at some point later in the year.

 

The settlement was reached after the La Porte County Commissioners on February 5 ratified a separate deal with NIPSCO in exchange for the governing body withdrawing from the rate hike appeal.

 

The deal includes a commitment from NIPSCO to look at keeping its coal fired generator in Michigan City open by studying the potential of converting it into a natural gas burning power plant or one that stores electricity for use by customers in batteries.

 

Right now, the generator is on track to close at the end of 2028.

 

If NIPSCO goes through with the closure, the utility also agreed to study the potential of building a natural gas burning power plant or battery storage facility at another location in La Porte County.

 

Attorney Shaw Friedman, who represented the La Porte County Commissioners in the rate hike appeal, said the idea is to retain NIPSCO’s good paying jobs here and the $5 million in property taxes produced annually from the generator.

 

NIPSCO also agreed to spend up to $5 million on additional electric infrastructure for any site in LaPorte County to assist with economic development.

 

In addition, the utility will extend until 2030 a commitment to spend $3.5 million on more electric infrastructure to help with any new manufacturing or solar farm developments at Kingsbury Industrial Park, according to the agreement.

 

That pledge secured for KIP in 2019 was scheduled to expire next year.

 

Friedman said he began negotiating the separate deal with NIPSCO after learning a settlement appeared to be in the making over the rate hike appeal regardless of La Porte County’s opposing stance on the matter.

 

“If the train is leaving the station and, they’re going to settle, let’s get what we can for La Porte County and that’s exactly what we did,” he said.