NIPSCO appeal challenges IURC
5-31
By Stacey Creasy
Pilot News
INDIANAPOLIS � The Northern Indiana Public Service Company believes state regulators exceeded their authority when they stopped it from closing five service offices in northern Indiana.
Attorneys representing NIPSCO asked the state Court of Appeals Thursday to overturn the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission order and a preliminary injunction by a LaPorte County judge that halted the closings.
NIPSCO intended to close five of its 12 district service offices by May 2000, but the Commission ordered the utility to keep them open until a hearing could be held.
The offices are in Plymouth, Angola, Crown Point, Hammond, and LaPorte. NIPSCO officials said if the Plymouth office is closed, the city will be serviced out of the Goshen office, which also covers the Warsaw area.
The utility claims closing the hubs will help cut costs and improve service for its 700,000-plus gas customers and 430,000 electric customers in northern Indiana.
But officials in LaPorte, Plymouth and Lake counties argued closing the hubs would impair service by causing slower response times, particularly during emergencies.
Locally, officials like Plymouth Fire Chief John Brown have expressed concern over response times during emergencies such as gas line breaks. On numerous occasions it has taken NIPSCO crews more than an hour to arrive at the scene of a gas leak.
Brown questions how long it would take if a service crew from the Goshen area were called to the same scene.
In its filing Thursday, NIPSCO maintains the LaPorte County Commissioners and officials in Michigan City did not have standing to seek the preliminary injunction that was granted in March 2002 by LaPorte Superior Court Judge Steve King.
The utility also contends the Utility Regulatory Commission does not have legal power to issue an injunction, that the order interferes with NIPSCO�s internal operations and that there is little evidence to support the state order.
Jodi Stein, representing the IURC, argued that the Commission has broad powers to stop any action that could injure the public.
NIPSCO spokesman Larry Graham said the filing is to see if the IURC has the authority to stay NIPSCO�s plan. Graham said the �door is still open� to local communities to negotiate an agreement regarding the offices. Graham said if the court rules in NIPSCO�s favor that �does not mean we are going to close the offices right away.�
NIPSCO made offers to both Plymouth and LaPorte regarding their offices. Officials in both communities rejected the proposals.
The three-judge panel is not expected to issue a decision for several months. The evidentiary hearing before the IURC is scheduled for June 23. In the meantime the offices will remain open while NIPSCO completes its plans on paper.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report).
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