Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) has made a request with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) to increase its natural gas base rates – a change that must go through a thorough regulatory review process that includes opportunities for public input and involvement.
It has been more than 25 years since NIPSCO’s base natural gas rates have increased, and in 2010, a regulatory review led to a slight decrease.
Since that time, NIPSCO has regularly been the lowest-cost provider in Indiana – and among the lowest-cost providers in the nation – while
improving service to customers.
NIPSCO anticipates that, with the newly proposed rates, it will remain among the lowest-cost providers.
Meanwhile, the cost to comply with state and federal safety standards has increased, and the company has made additional investments in its aging gas system to improve service to 820,000 customers across 32 northern Indiana counties, while maintaining and monitoring more than 17,800 miles of natural gas pipelines.
As a regulated energy provider, NIPSCO cannot change any charge without the approval of its state regulatory commission. NIPSCO is proposing new rates that would be phased in over two steps, with the first occurring in mid-2018 and new rates fully in place by early 2019. A residential customer using 69 therms per month, paying $50 today, would see an overall increase of approximately $10 per month.
The total overall requested increase would be about $143.5 million annually.
Customers have a voice in the process in multiple ways – through written comments submitted directly to the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, at public field hearings and through various consumer advocacy organizations that participate in the process.
Service to customers has also continued to improve, and NIPSCO’s request seeks to further its commitment to customers in several ways, including:
Providing faster response times to emergency customer calls
Offering programs to help customers save energy and be more energy efficient
Upgrading and replacing old, vintage underground pipes with more modern materials
Reducing service appointment windows
Continuing to provide bill payment assistance for low-income customers
Replacing customer meters with more advanced meters to help eliminate estimated bills
Continuing to use smart technologies to inspect and detect abnormal
pipeline conditions
Customers can learn more about the request and the regulatory review
process by visiting NIPSCO.com/rates.
