Cancelled: NIPSCO electric rate case hearing in Hammond January 28

Contributed By:The 411 News

Tonight's field hearing has been cancelled because of hazardous weather conditions, said Stephanie Hodgin, Deputy Director of Communications & Media for the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission. It will be rescheduled for a later date.

Indiana’s Utility Regulatory Commission and the Office of Utility Consumer Counselor have scheduled a hearing in Hammond to hear the public’s comments on NIPSCO’s request for a rate hike. NIPSCO’s electric utility provides service to more than 468,000 customers in 20 counties in northern Indiana.

The hearing will be held at 6 p.m., Monday, January 28 in the auditorium of Hammond High School, 5926 Calumet Avenue.

NIPSCO’s request would raise monthly electric charges for an average residential customer – using 689 kilowatt hours (kWh) – from $94.54 to $105.96. A residential customer using 1,000 kWh would see monthly electric charges rise from $130.96 to $146.07.

The utility’s monthly residential customer charge – which does not vary by use among residential customers – would rise from $14.00 to $17.00. Small and medium commercial customers flat monthly rate would rise from $24.00 to $30.00.

If the request is approved, increases will be phased in over a 2-year period, in 2019 and 2020.

Infrastructure improvements are not the drivers of this rate increase as in previous years. Instead, it is changes to rules, regulations, taxes, and accounting.

NIPSCO is seeking approval to restructure rates for its industrial customers, the utility’s largest customer segment. The rate case will address options industrial customers have for generating more of their own electricity. The company is proposing tariff changes that would allow its largest customers greater access to wholesale power market pricing while retaining them as retail customers.

It wants to revise depreciation rates for the coal-fired plants designated for retirement in the next decade.

The utility needs state approval to settle impacts of the 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act which reduced the federal corporate tax rate from 35% to 21 percent.

Nick Meyer, NIPSCO’s External Communications Director said, “Customers have a voice and it's an important part of the review process. And, while our electric rates remain below the national average, our proposal seeks to balance the need for system improvements while limiting the impact on bills."

The rate increase is projected to raise the utility’s revenues by 1.4 percent.

Natural gas rates and charges are not at issue in this case.

Consumers unable to attend and make a comment at the Hammond hearing may submit a written response by January 31 via the OUCC’s website at www.in.gov/oucc/2361.htm, via email at uccinfo@oucc.IN.gov, or by mail to: Consumer Services Staff, Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, 115 W. Washington St., Suite 1500 South, Indianapolis, IN 46204.

The OUCC, the state agency representing consumer interests in cases before the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, is using its legal and technical resources to review NIPSCO’s request and is scheduled to file testimony on Feb. 6, 2019.

Additional parties that have formally intervened in this case include eight municipal governments (the Cities of East Chicago and Valparaiso, and the Towns of Highland, Schererville, Munster, Dyer, Griffith, and Winfield), the Sierra Club, the Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana, the Indiana Coal Council, Peabody Coalsales, Wal-Mart, and a number of the utility’s industrial customers (including Accurate Castings, ArcelorMittal, BP Products North America, Cargill, Enbridge Energy, NLMK, Praxair, and USG Corporation).

Story Posted:01/19/2019