NIPSCO fights to close service hubs

Northern Indiana Public Service Co. wants the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to look again at its edict mandating the utility keep its Crown Point and Hammond service hubs open.

In a filing with the IURC this week, the utility charged that many of the complaints about its plans to close up to five service hubs in Northern Indiana were "union-driven" and based on flimsy evidence.

It also contends the IURC's Aug. 10 order interferes with the utility's right to manage its own business. It calls the order a "radical departure" from past commission rulings.

"We have a concern when the IURC tells a utility how best to provide service to its customers," said Tom Cuddy, a NIPSCO spokesman, in explaining the utility's petition on Thursday.

Union leaders on Thursday lashed out at NIPSCO's argument that the union was behind the widespread complaints over the closing of the service hubs.

"It's just a nice way of taking the spotlight away from the fact this is a serious issue of public safety," said David Chlebek, legislative committee chairman for United Steelworkers Local 12775.

The union worked closely with communities to roll back the hub closings plan, but Chlebek said it was local governments such as LaPorte County that led the charge.

The USW represents about 2,000 NIPSCO workers. The utility could have eliminated up to 300 jobs by closing all five service hubs.

Chlebek said Gov. Mitch Daniels' recent naming of two new members to the IURC may be giving NIPSCO hope it could get a different result the second time around.

NIPSCO has long argued its overall goal is not to close service hubs, but to implement an Area Service Model plan that will better serve customers. That plan involves allowing employees to take company trucks home. Those employees can then be dispatched from home for emergencies and other situations.

The IURC in its order affirmed NIPSCO can proceed with its Area Service Model plan to station on-call employees at home. But it can't close down service hubs and must keep them fully staffed.

NIPSCO also protested the IURC's requirement that it file certain annual reports on customer service and reliability.

The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission can either agree to rehear the case as NIPSCO has requested or refuse, according to Mary Beth Fisher, an IURC spokeswoman. If the IURC refuses to rehear it, NIPSCO can appeal to the Indiana Court of Appeals.

The Aug. 10 hub closings edict from the IURC came after more than three years of controversy and proceedings in the case.

In March 2002, LaPorte County and Michigan City were the first to protest the closings. The two obtained a court injunction and IURC order putting the closings on hold.

Over the next three years, they were joined by a numerous other communities including the Hammond Common Council, Lake County, and the City of Plymouth. The United Steelworkers also became a formal intervenor in the case and some of its members testified.

During those three years, NIPSCO reached settlements on the closings with Plymouth, the City of LaPorte, and Michigan City. The IURC in its Aug. 10 order affirmed those settlements for service hubs in or near those cities, but said it could not go along with the closing of the Hammond or Crown Point hubs.

In the last paragraph of its petition, NIPSCO compares the closing of its service hubs to the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles' plans to close license branches in Indiana. The utility argues it should be afforded the same opportunity as the state to explore new ways of saving money while providing adequate service to customers.