Indiana residents sound off on rising NIPSCO utility bills at emergency town hall

Town hall to express frustrations over NIPSCO bills

 More frustration tonight from residents of Northwest Indiana over skyrocketing utility bills.

MUNSTER, Ind. - There's more frustration from residents of Northwest Indiana over skyrocketing utility bills. The backlash against the Northern Indiana Public Service Company or NIPSCO has been growing as some customers say their winter heating bills have doubled or even tripled.

On Saturday, a pair of Indiana lawmakers held an emergency town hall meeting to hear from those angry ratepayers. Several dozen residents filled a Munster union hall for an airing of grievances over their NIPSCO utility bills.

What we know:

"The good news is your voice is being heard. The legislators and the people of Indianapolis know you're at the breaking point with these rates," said Rep. Matt Pierce.

"They received over one point 16 billion in profits, and yet we are paying for everything that they are building or thinking of building," a resident said.

Residents have been protesting for weeks after receiving winter heating bills they say are sharply higher than what they've paid in the past.

Last year, Indiana's utility regulator approved a significant rate hike, and democratic lawmakers at Saturday's forum say the state has been too charitable.

RELATED: Protests over high NIPSCO bills outside of company's headquarters

"I can tell you from my perspective, the legislature's made decisions over the last decade or so that have not been in the interests of consumers," Pierce said.

A bill in the Indiana legislature would limit how much utilities can raise their rates and stop service disconnections during extreme cold or heat. But it faces a tight deadline for passage.

Residents also worry that rates will continue to rise because of growing demand from the burgeoning data center business. Those centers require massive amounts of electricity. But a state regulator told the crowd they shouldn't be impacted.

"Ultimately, NIPSCO's goal is to sort of bifurcate that new generation to a separate legal entity that rate payers are not responsible for, that the new data centers will be responsible for," said Lucas Wilson of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.

RELATED: Indiana lawmakers seek answers as NIPSCO customers face rising bills

"All these utility poles, and all these lines and transformers. That wasn't paid by nipsco. That was paid our of my tax dollars because they got federal grants," said a resident.

NIPSCO has said the higher bills are being driven by an especially cold winter, market-driven gas prices and infrastructure investments.