NIPSCO plans for gas hike in 2022
Contributed By:The 411 News
Increases in usage and monthly charge to pay for system upgrades, infrastructure, safety, and technology
The president of NIPSCO announced the utility company is asking state regulators to approve a rate hike for its 850,000 industrial, commercial and residential gas customers across the 32 counties it serves in Indiana.
New rates are proposed to be phased in over two steps. Upon review and approval by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC), NIPSCO expects the first step increase for customers no earlier than September 1, 2022.
Based on NIPSCO’s proposal, projections for a residential customer using 70 therms per month, paying approximately $55 today, would see an overall increase of approximately $9 per month, or 17 percent.
Actual projected bill impacts may vary by customer, depending on usage and future potential changes in market prices for natural gas.
The proposal before the state utility regulator also asks for a $10.50 increase in the monthly residential customer charge from $14 to $24.50. NIPSCO said this proposed increase in the customer charge – a fixed amount – will lead to greater bill stability, which benefits customers by reducing bill fluctuation between high-usage and low-usage periods, especially the winter heating months.
NIPSCO’s natural gas base rates were last approved in 2018 said the utility’s president Mike Hooper. “Since that time, we have invested approximately $885 million in system upgrades, technology improvements, and pipeline safety and reliability initiatives to be completed through the end of 2022, with plans for future, continued investments.”
As a regulated energy provider, NIPSCO cannot change any rates and charges to its customers without the approval of the IURC.
The utility’s request to the IURC is called a rate case and will take nearly a year to complete. During that time, the IURC will examine how NIPSCO’s rate increase will impact customers. It will ask for written testimony from the large users– industrial, municipal, and commercial customers. Public hearings will be held across NIPSCO’s service area to accept testimony from residential customers.
The total overall requested increase would be about $115 million annually for NIPSCO. The IURC has the authority to reduce that amount if it determines that is in the public’s interest.
In 2015, NIPSCO submitted a rate case to increase its customer’s electricity costs. The utility proposed an 11% base rate increase and an increase of the monthly fee from $11 to $20.
The IURC reduced the base rate increase to 5.4%. and increased the monthly fee to $14.
Story Posted:10/01/2021
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