INDIANAPOLIS -- A study to test the feasibility of a publicly owned company buying NIPSCO will likely proceed under a bill the Senate passed Wednesday.

House Bill 1824 would allow a study into whether creating a public power authority to bid on the utility, rumored to be on the market, is in the public's interest.

But the bill doesn't include a provision that a scheduled rate case of the utility must proceed even if it is sold to a private company. Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Portage, had offered that amendment, then indicated she would vote for the bill even though the amendment did not get a vote in the Senate's Utilities and Regulatory Affairs Committee.

Tallian said she hoped to amend the bill to include her provision during further negotiations in conference committee.

During debate Wednesday, however, Tallian said she could not support the bill in its current form, and voted against it.

"I hope we can finalize this, but as of today I can't support it," Tallian said.

Sen. Brandt Hershman, R-Wheatfield, who chairs the Utilities and Regulatory Affairs Committee, said he was disappointed by Tallian's "no" vote.

"If enough of her colleagues had agreed with Sen. Tallian's decision, it would have killed any chance to get something done on a topic that is very important to a lot of people in our area of the state," Hershman said.

In its current form, HB 1824 allows a study to evaluate existing utility operations, provide financing options for a public power authority, compare similarly sized power authorities elsewhere in the country, provide a cost-benefit analysis and determine if creating such a public power authority would be in the public interest.