1. What they do

NIPSCO is a regulated investor-owned utility delivering natural gas and electricity across 32 northern Indiana counties. Major facilities: Schahfer (coal, retiring); Michigan City (coal, retiring); R.M. Schahfer natural-gas units. NIPSCO’s 2023 IRP commits to retiring all coal by 2028, replacing with wind, solar, and storage.

2. What customers actually report

• Bill volatility — the most consistent complaint. Winter 2022–23 gas bills spiked alongside Henry Hub price moves; post-pandemic balance-bill shutoff threats were documented in the Indiana media.
• Rate-case opposition — the OUCC and Citizens Action Coalition opposed NIPSCO’s 2022–23 electric and gas rate cases; final orders authorized smaller increases than NIPSCO requested but still substantial.
• Coal-ash and IDEM compliance — the Schahfer site is on IDEM’s remediation list; ratepayer cost recovery for cleanup has been litigated at the IURC.
• Natural-gas safety — NIPSCO has been cited under PHMSA pipeline-safety rules historically; no recent fatal incidents on its system.

3. What the data shows

• NiSource 10-K (2024): consolidated revenue ~$5.5B; NIPSCO is the largest segment.
• IURC Cause 45772 (2023): $311M electric rate increase authorized.
• IURC Cause 45911 (2023–24): gas rate increase authorized (total revenue requirement disputed).
• BBB profile: NIPSCO carries an A rating with substantial complaint volume primarily about billing.

4. How they handle complaints

NIPSCO customers escalate through Customer Service, then the IURC Consumer Affairs Division, then the OUCC. Disconnect-protection rules (IURC General Order) provide winter shutoff protection during heating season for qualifying low-income customers. Field-response time for gas-leak calls is regulated and audited under PHMSA; NIPSCO publicly reports leak-response statistics.

5. IBE Score: 4/10 — reasoning

Significant infrastructure and meaningful coal-retirement progress; offset by sustained rate increases, bill-volatility complaints, and legacy coal-ash exposure. 4/10 is consistent with the regulated Midwestern utility pattern.

6. Verified public sources

1. IURC Cause No. 45772 (NIPSCO electric rate case 2022–23)
2. IURC Cause No. 45911 (NIPSCO gas rate case 2023–24)
3. NiSource Inc. 2024 Annual Report (10-K)
4. OUCC — NIPSCO rate-case filings
5. BBB profile — NIPSCO

7. What this review is, and what it isn’t

• Independent. No payment, sponsorship, or advertising relationship between IBE and the reviewed business.
• Public-record only. Every claim above traces to a source listed in section 6. Where data couldn’t be verified, the review either omits the claim or labels it as a pattern reported by customers (not a finding).
• Not legal or medical advice. If a specific transaction went wrong, document it in writing, escalate to the company first, then to the relevant regulator (Indiana AG, IDOI, IURC, CFPB, FDA, NHTSA, etc.) as appropriate.
• Updated as evidence comes in. If you have a primary-source document that changes any claim above — a court filing, a regulatory order, a settlement agreement — submit it via the tip form. Reviews are revised when verifiable evidence warrants.

This review reflects publicly available information as of the review date listed above. IBE has no commercial relationship with NIPSCO (Northern Indiana Public Service Company) or its parent entities.