Indiana regulators launch 'affordability' investigation: 'We've lost a lot of trust'

Name: Indiana regulators launch 'affordability' investigation: 'We've lost a lot of trust'
Uploaded: 2026-03-24T21:24:12-05:00
Description: Indiana regulators launched an investigation into affordability after they said they received thousands of complaints about high utility bills.

Indiana regulators launch 'affordability' investigation: 'We've lost a lot of trust'

Indiana regulators launched an investigation into affordability after they said they received thousands of complaints about high utility bills.

INDIANA - Indiana regulators launched an investigation into affordability after they said they received thousands of complaints about high utility bills.

What we know:

Five of Indiana's largest utility providers presented and answered questions from the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission and the Indiana Office of Consumer Counselor about usage, rates, fees, investments, affordability and how it all plays a role in what consumers pay.

The IURC also asked companies about potential solutions to increase not only billing transparency but also financial relief for consumers.

The backstory:

For months, our viewers in Northwest Indiana told their stories about how their NIPSCO bills have hurt them financially.

Some told Fox Chicago they are paying double or triple the amount on their utility bills compared to last year.

Tuesday's hearing:

During Tuesday's hearing, commissioners told NIPSCO representatives, including company president Vince Parisi, that more than half of the complaints they received this year are from NIPSCO customers. They said the number of those complaints is already at the level of the total number of complaints they received in the entire calendar year of 2025.

"The outrage is real and I'm not even sure we've gotten close to the heart of it today," said Andy Zay, IURC commissioner. "We've received thousands of complaints, we know there's been rallies, hundreds of people, very active complaining in this space which is really what drove us to this moment. We've lost a lot of trust in ratepayers and consumers."

Zay asked Parisi what the company plans to do to address affordability in the short and long term. Parisi said NIPSCO has eliminated its disconnection fees, as well as its collection activities for non-payment and eliminated its late payment fees. These steps are effective through the end of March.

"We've expanded our, I'll still refer to it as budget billing, but our levelized billing plan to enable customers that have been late on payments to be able to enroll in it, as well as any kind of past-due current charges can be in that levelized plan, as well that does help spread the impact and the cost of that," said Parisi.

Pictured is an example of a utility bill that is part of the 'budget billing.'

Some Fox Chicago viewers sent us their recent NIPSCO bills, which are part of the company's levelized, or budget billing plans. They criticized NIPSCO because they are still struggling to pay their bills when, last month, NIPSCO charged one family more than $1,000.

"We're also trying to figure out more ways to proactively reach out to our customers. You've asked the question before about do we just respond to it or do we find ways to get out there with our customers? It's difficult because we don't know a customer is struggling to miss a bill. We don't take in income information," added Parisi. "So we can start to use data analytics to understand if customers have slow paid or no paid to potentially use that to find ways to reach out to customers
and provide them with information."

Parisi acknowledged customers are struggling with high utility bills and pointed to a colder-than-usual winter, as well as higher usage for why customers are paying more for their utilities in recent months.

We asked Michelle Chapman from Monticello, who is a NIPSCO customer, about how she felt watching the meeting and hearing Parisi's explanation.

"When delivery charges are outweighing the usage charges, I think we have a big problem," said Chapman. "What if they present facts that are not true? What are the consequences for these companies? Because it doesn't seem like there's many consequences for them. The consequences befall upon us."

What's next:

Chapman added she feels optimistic regulators are listening to the concerns of consumers, after the IURC announced days ago that commissioners will be holding 10 public listening sessions, so they can hear directly from consumers about their utility bills.

The first one is Thursday in La Porte. The full schedule for the public listening sessions is shared below:

Thursday, March 26 – La Porte Civic Auditorium (1001 Ridge St, La Porte) – Central
Saturday, March 28 – Syracuse Town Hall (310 N Huntington St, Syracuse) – 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Wednesday, April 1 – Elkhart Co. Fairgrounds – Community Center (17746-D County Rd 34, Goshen)
Thursday, April 2 – Columbus City Hall – Cal Brand Meeting Room (123 Washington St, Columbus)
Monday, April 6 – New Haven Community Center (7500 SR 930 E, Fort Wayne)
Tuesday, April 7 – Old National Events Plaza – Exhibit Hall B (715 Locust St, Evansville) – Central
Thursday, April 9 – Noblesville City Hall – Council Chambers (16 S 10th St, Noblesville)
Monday, April 13 – Gary Public Library – Roma K. Ivey Community Room (220 W 5th Ave, Gary) – 5:30 p.m.; 7:30 p.m. Central
Monday, April 20 – Ivy Tech Conference Center – Ballroom 212 (2820 N Meridian St), Indianapolis