Indiana House Democrats ask Legislature to investigate NIPSCO

Maya Wilkins, Post-Tribune on Aug 26, 2026

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A group of Indiana state representatives asked House Speaker Todd Huston to assign a committee to investigate the Northern Indiana Public Service Company’s response to the Aug. 11 derecho.

“Northwest Indiana residents have endured more than two weeks without electric service,” they wrote in a letter. “Those residents are frustrated that despite paying ever-higher rates to NIPSCO, the utility struggles to restore service while Illinois utilities restored service within four days of the disaster. We have heard reports that out-of-state line crews providing mutual aid found the emergency response to be poorly coordinated.”

Initial construction continues on a data center site as the towers of NIPSCO’s R.M. Schahfer Generating Station stand in the background in Wheatfield, Indiana on Thursday, August 20, 2026. (Andy Lavalley/for the Post-Tribune) State representatives requesting the investigation include Carolyn Jackson, D-Hammond; Earl Harris, Jr., D-East Chicago; Ragen Hatcher, D-Gary; Randy Novak, D-Michigan City; Chuck Moseley, D-Portage; Mike Andrade, D-Munster; Vernon Smith, D-Gary; and Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington.

In addition to Huston, they also addressed the letter to state Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray; Senate Minority Leader Shelli Yoder, D-Bloomington; House Minority Leader Phil GiaQuinta, D-Fort Wayne; and George Angelone, Executive Director of the Legislative Services Agency.

According to the letter, the state representatives ask the Personnel Subcommittee of the Legislative Council to assign the House Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications interim study committee to look at NIPSCO’s response to the Aug. 11 storm and following power outages.

More than 300,000 Northwest Indiana residents lost power following the Aug. 11 derecho, according to NIPSCO. In its 7 a.m. update Wednesday, NIPSCO said restoration efforts related to the storm and subsequent weather are “substantially complete.”

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“While crews continue working through a limited number of individual outage cases, restoration activities have concluded across the broader service territory,” according to NIPSCO’s website. “We remain committed to restoring service to every customer as quickly and safely as possible and will continue to address any remaining outages.”

At about 4 p.m. Wednesday, 630 NIPSCO customers were still without power. Of those, 352 were Gary residents. Gary, Portage and Lake Station residents went the longest without power, according to previous updates from NIPSCO, as they were slated to receive power Tuesday, two weeks after the Aug. 11 storm.

Lake Station still had 32 people without power Wednesday afternoon, and Portage had 77.

NIPSCO was unable to immediately provide a comment Wednesday afternoon.

According to the letter, the representatives requested the committee hold public hearings in Northwest Indiana’s affected areas “to learn first-hand how residents were affected by the loss of electric service and how NIPSCO responded.” They also called for a required questioning of NIPSCO by the utilities, energy and telecommunications committee.

The representatives’ request comes just two days after Gov. Mike Braun asked the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor to file a complaint and petition the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to investigate NIPSCO. He called for a thorough review of the utility’s preparation and response to power outages, including whether NIPSCO adequately maintained vegetation and cleared rights-of-way to protect infrastructure and whether state regulator-approved funding for infrastructure and reliability improvements was spent as promised.

“NIPSCO is a monopoly utility that Hoosiers pay every month with the expectation that it will use its considerable resources to maintain its system, prepare for severe weather and restore service as quickly as possible when disaster strikes,” Braun previously said.

Novak said in a statement Wednesday that he welcomes Braun’s call for an investigation, but he believes the Indiana General Assembly needs to prioritize legislation regulating utilities. He believes, Novak said in his statement, that public hearings will allow the legislature to gather information on what needs to be done to regulate utilities like NIPSCO.

Novak also called out Braun’s recent firing of former IURC Chair Andy Zay, saying a “revolving door” is not going to solve the issues with utility companies.

“The bottom line is that the IURC is beholden to the rules set for it by the General Assembly,” Novak said. “If we want to see real change with how our utilities are regulated, the legislature needs to take action. Utility companies like NIPSCO have to be held to a higher standard. … I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting legislation that gives Hoosiers real relief.”

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