NIPSCO accused of overbilling more than 4,000 customers as meter investigation continues
NIPSCO accused of overcharging 4,000+ customers by thousands of dollars
The Citizens Action Coalition says faulty gas meters may have caused more than 4,000 NIPSCO customers to be overcharged — in some cases by thousands of dollars — and is pushing regulators to require full refunds plus interest.
INDIANA - There are new allegations that NIPSCO overcharged more than 4,000 gas customers, where customers may have paid double for what they actually owed.
NIPSCO accused of overcharging customers
What we know:
The issue involves older NIPSCO natural gas meters that could inaccurately measure how much gas a customer used.
The Citizens Action Coalition says NIPSCO is continuing to replace older communication modules on those legacy meters. That process is allowing the utility to identify more meters that may have been inaccurately billing customers.
CAC Program Director Ben Inskeep says that's why the number of potentially affected customers has increased from more than 3,500 earlier this year to more than 4,000 now.
"As NIPSCO continues to deploy these new communication modules, it's now detecting more and more of its meters that have this problem, that have had it in place for potentially many years," Inskeep said.
Inskeep says some of the meters date back decades.
"Some of these legacy meters that NIPSCO has discovered are double billing customers were installed in the early 1970s. And many of them, you know, between the 1970s and 1990s," said Inskeep," Inskeep said.
That could mean some customers were affected for years — potentially decades. CAC says that could translate into significant refunds.
"We're talking many thousands of dollars for some customers that they could be owed because they were overcharged for their service," said Inskeep. "This is money that the customer should not have had to pay NIPSCO, that they were ultimately billed by NIPSCO incorrectly and NIPSCO got to keep those ill-gotten gains."
CAC is asking the IURC to require NIPSCO to provide a full refund of those improper charges, plus 8% interest.
A problem NIPSCO discovered nearly two years ago
One of the biggest questions surrounding the case is when NIPSCO first knew there was a problem. IURC records indicate NIPSCO discovered the meter issue in October 2024. The utility reportedly did not notify state regulators until November 2025, with customers not publicly notified until March 2026. Inskeep says that delay is one of the reasons CAC is pushing regulators to take a harder look at the company.
"It's frankly inexcusable," he said. "A utility like NIPSCO has a duty to come forward when it discovers a major problem like this and do its best effort to quickly fix it. Customers all of a sudden got a strange credit. They didn't know why and NIPSCO didn't disclose to regulators that the meters were — that they were fixing this kind of meter problem."
CAC says NIPSCO's current approach does not go far enough. Inskeep says the organization is concerned about the scale and duration of the problem.
"I've never seen a utility overbill its customer of this magnitude, of this long, across this many meters," said Inskeep. "This is a truly anomalous and a very concerning case because I don't know that there's a precedent in the United States for this type of major error."
Customers who asked NIPSCO for help
CAC says there is another troubling aspect of the case.
According to Inskeep, some customers who received unusually high bills actually contacted NIPSCO and asked the company to check their meters. Inskeep says NIPSCO tested some of those meters and told customers there was no problem. But CAC says some of those same meters were later determined to be double-billing customers. Inskeep says that raises questions about how NIPSCO was testing the meters.
"It's particularly frustrating to see that NIPSCO's process for checking meter accuracy didn't catch this type of error and that they gave false reassurance to customers that had faulty meters," said Inskeep. "Maybe NIPSCO and other gas utilities need to reconsider what they need to do to test meters for accuracy if it's not catching this type of an error."
What we don't know:
The final number of affected customers is still unknown. NIPSCO is continuing to check its meters, and CAC says the total could increase before that process is finished later this year. We also don't know how much money could ultimately be owed to customers.
There is also an important distinction in the case: some meters were allegedly overbilling, while a smaller number were underbilling customers. Inskeep says some customers whose meters were underbilling them may have suddenly seen their bills increase after NIPSCO corrected the problem — without understanding why.
"All of a sudden they're getting billed twice as much as before due to that correction," he added.
NIPSCO's response
NIPSCO provided FOX Chicago with this statement:
"We are reviewing the parties’ testimony in this cause and will file rebuttal testimony on October 1, 2026."
NIPSCO has previously said the meter problem was discovered during the installation of automated meter technology on legacy gas meters. The company has maintained that the new technology did not cause the problem but helped identify it. The utility has also said it is working to identify and correct affected meters.
Gov. Braun calls for NIPSCO accountability
The controversy over the meters comes as NIPSCO is facing scrutiny on another front.
After severe storms left thousands of Northwest Indiana customers without electricity for an extended period, Gov. Mike Braun called for an investigation into NIPSCO's preparation and storm response.
Braun said the state needs to determine whether NIPSCO was doing what it was supposed to do to maintain its system and prevent problems.
"There will be an investigation to see if they were doing what they were supposed to do to keep things in good shape, to be preventive," said Braun. "We need dependable, reliable electricity, but we need to have somebody speaking up for the rate payer, him or herself."
CAC's Inskeep says that same philosophy should apply to the natural gas meter case.
He says Indiana lawmakers have limited some of the tools available to utility regulators, but argues the IURC still has authority it can use.
"They still do have some tools in that toolbox and they should use those powers they do have to hold NIPSCO to the maximum extent possible accountable," said Inskeep. "The big question is what happens as a result of those cases? Does the commission actually crack down on NIPSCO or are they gonna let them continue to get away with it?"
What's next:
NIPSCO is expected to file its rebuttal testimony on Oct. 1.
After that, the case could move toward an evidentiary hearing, where the parties could present evidence and cross-examine witnesses.
CAC says a resolution could come later this year or early next year.
The IURC says it cannot comment on the case while it is pending.
However, the commission is encouraging customers who believe their bill is inaccurate to first try to resolve the issue with NIPSCO.
If the issue cannot be resolved, customers can contact the IURC Consumer Affairs Division at 1-800-851-4268 or submit a complaint through the IURC online services portal.
The Source: The information in this report came from testimony and filings before the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, interviews with the Citizens Action Coalition, statements from NIPSCO and Indiana Gov. Mike Braun, and information provided by the IURC Consumer Affairs Division.