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More calls for NIPSCO investigation after massive power outage
Several people are on their way out of the Red Cross shelter in Gary, Indiana. It's been almost a month since that big storm knocked out power for hundreds of thousands.
GARY, Ind. - Several people are looking for another place to stay after the temporary Red Cross shelter is moving out of the Hudson Campbell Sports and Fitness Center.
Calls for NIPSCO investigation
The backstory:
A representative from the Red Cross would not confirm how many people were still living at the shelter as of Thursday, but they said they are all moving to different places, including hotels.
Pressure is mounting on NIPSCO nearly one month after severe storms left hundreds of thousands of people across Northwest Indiana without power. One woman we spoke with, who was living there for weeks, tells Fox Chicago, between 40-50 people were still living there as of Thursday.
Dania Bethea said she spent about three weeks at the shelter after storm damage left her unable to return home. She says she lost most of her belongings after her home flooded.
"I lost all my belongings that I owned previous in the storm. In the house I was at it flooded, so my shoes, all type of stuff has been demolished," said Bethea.
She told us the Red Cross gave her a 30-day hotel voucher as she waits for a decision on longer-term housing assistance. She says living in a shelter for weeks was difficult.
"People need lights, people need power, people their heat, people their cool breeze in the house, A?C," said Bethea. "People need that to survive."
Bethea says she believes NIPSCO should have moved faster during the restoration effort.
IURC investigation
The IURC confirmed with Fox Chicago Thursday that Chairman Anthony Swinger intends for the commission to move forward with an investigation into NIPSCO. But the investigation has not yet formally begun. The IURC says there are procedural steps that must happen first, including scheduling a prehearing conference to establish the parameters and schedule for the case.
No prehearing conference has been scheduled yet. The investigation comes after calls from state and local leaders for greater scrutiny of NIPSCO's response to the August 11 storms.
NIPSCO declined to comment.
Meanwhile, the Lake County Council voted unanimously Tuesday to urge the IURC to deny NIPSCO a rate increase going into the fall. That vote comes as some Northwest Indiana residents continue to deal with the aftermath of the storm.
Saturday's protest
The latest criticism will continue Saturday afternoon when a protest is planned outside NIPSCO's Gary headquarters.
Sue Baxter, a Valparaiso resident, is helping organize the protest and says the event is about more than the length of the outage.
"This particular protest is about the storm recovery and how long it took NIPSCO to get people's power back," said Baxter.
She told us protesters are calling for greater accountability and transparency, better vegetation and easement maintenance, improved storm preparedness, faster restoration procedures and greater scrutiny of rates and delivery charges. She also wants better communication between NIPSCO, customers and local governments.
Baxter says she was personally without power for four days. She says her power was restored about 30 minutes after she called NIPSCO and explained that her husband uses an oxygen machine.
"I don't know how long it would have been without power if I wouldn't have called them and told them that. And I mean, that's the truth, but to me, that is not right," said Baxter.
Gary residents demand answers
Preston Ruby, a candidate for mayor of Gary, also plans to attend Saturday's protest. Ruby says he believes vegetation management played a role in how long some residents remained without power. He says residents should not have had to wait more than two weeks to have their power restored.
"There's going to be damage from a tornado, but did it have to be this bad," said Ruby. "Did Gary citizens have to go, and Northwest Indiana citizens have to go two and a half weeks without power? And I don't believe so."
Ruby says the focus now needs to be on accountability.
"I want NIPSCO to listen to the message. I want the IURC to listen to the message. I want our General Assembly here in the state of Indiana to listen to the message, but most importantly, I want our local leaders to listen to the messages," said Ruby.
He says he's unsure whether the IURC investigation will ultimately lead to changes.
"I have no idea where my confidence level lies in that, to be quite honest with you. It's certainly not a simple issue. It's just a matter of whether the people are going to apply enough pressure for leadership to listen," he said.
What's next:
The IURC says it will post information about the prehearing conference once it is scheduled. That conference will be the next procedural step toward formally moving the investigation forward.
In the meantime, residents continue working to rebuild their lives nearly a month after the storm, while local officials and consumer advocates push for answers from NIPSCO.
The Source: The information in this report came from interviews with displaced residents, protest organizers and Gary mayoral candidate Preston Ruby, as well as the American Red Cross, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, the Lake County Council, NIPSCO, and FOX Chicago reporting.