NIPSCO must keep hubs open

The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission ruled Wednesday that NIPSCO must abandon its plan to consolidate its maintenance facilities and keep all 12 open, fully staffed and operating.

Under the early 2002 proposal, Merrillville-based NIPSCO planned to close maintenance hubs in Hammond, Crown Point, LaPorte, Plymouth and LaGrange and consolidate their operations with NIPSCO hubs in Gary, Valparaiso, Angola and Goshen.

But the ruling says, "It appears that while the Operation Excellence model as originally conceived was to be based on careful research and analysis prior to its implementation, it also seems that NIPSCO ultimately bypassed the research and analysis component in favor of moving directly to anticipated cost savings of $140,000 per week."

The commission found it couldn't ignore the possible impact that the implementation of the "consolidation model" would have on service quality and reliability.

Tom Cuddy, a spokesman for NIPSCO, said the utility hasn't "had the opportunity to review the order" and declined comment.

NIPSCO, which has about 670,000 natural gas and 430,000 electric customers in northern Indiana, had testified before the commission that it expected to reduce its work force by 185 jobs through the consolidation of its maintenance facilities. It also expected the proposal to provide it with $8.5 million in direct savings, and an additional $9.1 million from the sale of maintenance buildings.

Scores of customers, elected officials, workers and their union have objected to the plan, testifying before the commission that closing the maintenance hubs would affect everything from homeland security in cities to keeping the heat on in homes.

Plus, public officials from throughout northern Indiana and the state Office of the Utility Consumer Counselor have testified that closing the maintenance hubs would harm ratepayers because it would lengthen response times, particularly during major power outages.

NIPSCO has said customer service would not suffer from the consolidation.

Since the 2002 proposal, NIPSCO has reached agreements with the cities of LaPorte, Michigan City and Plymouth to keep maintenance facilities in those locations open in favor of closing others. Although the commission's ruling allows the portion of the settlements dealing with facilities to stand, it doesn't allow the cities to dictate what facilities would be closed, said Mary Beth Fisher, spokeswoman for the commission.

Jim Blythe, chairman of the grievance committee of USW Local 12775, which represents NIPSCO's 1,420 union employees, said he and his fellow union members are overjoyed about the commission's decision.

"The ruling certainly makes sense when you consider the significant growth in the NIPSCO service territory," Blythe said. "It doesn't make any sense to reduce operating headquarters for natural gas and electric customers. We've been working with municipal leadership for more than three years, and it seems our efforts have paid off with this ruling."