Daniel Przybyla, 1-866-362-2167 Ext. 13865, dprzybyla@heraldargus.com

Photo: By Wendy Thoms Don and Ann McChristian, with daughter Elizabeth, 2, speak Wednesday evening at their home about the random power outages affecting LaPorte's east side recently. More photos from this shoot

The wife and mother of two is among dozens of east side LaPorte residents who have grown increasingly angry with Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) since losing power at least four times in the last nine days.

“It’s Christmas break. We have kids at home. We’re not showering. And it’s starting to get cold,” Wilson told The LaPorte County Herald-Argus from her home in the 200 block of Woodward Street Wednesday afternoon.

When electricity to the Wilson home died for the first time last Tuesday, during the day, it wasn’t a big deal, said Wilson. But when it happened again Friday night, for approximately three hours, the frustration started to mount. Finally, on Monday, when the power went out again for nearly three hours on Christmas Day, preventing Wilson’s 9-year-old son from playing his new PlayStation 2, well, that was just too much -- not just for Wilson, but for several east side residents.

“I’m a little bit ticked off. Especially on Christmas Day with families,” Jennifer Schindler, of the 300 block of Niles Street, said.

The electricity failed again Wednesday morning for two hours, only to come on again for 30 minutes and then go off yet again in the afternoon. In each instance, including Wednesday, the power has ultimately been restored, residents said.

Residents emphasized that nothing like this has happened before in their neighborhood.

In the absence of power, families in the neighborhood have become creative in keeping their homes warm during the short outages. Still, some have been forced to leave their homes for short periods of time during the outages to seek warmth.

Wilson and other residents said they have tried in vain to find out what’s been causing the recent rash of outages, but have received few answers from NIPSCO. Schindler said she phoned NIPSCO and was told by customer service personnel the outages resulted from a transformer that popped and a limb that fell atop electric wires. But she said she didn’t feel those answers were conclusive enough, as NIPSCO employees were still investigating what triggered the mishaps.

The fury among residents only grew Wednesday when they said calls to NIPSCO customer service weren’t answered. They were greeted, they said, with a recorded message stating their area was experiencing outages, crews were en route or onsite, and power would be restored soon.

NIPSCO management on Wednesday afternoon was trying to figure out why the outages have been occurring in the same area.

“We do the best we can to inform our customers about what we are doing. In some cases we can’t give direct answers,” NIPSCO spokesman Mike Charbonneau said Wednesday. “We appreciate the patience of our customers.”