Nipsco

MERRILLVILLE, Ind. - NIPSCO could soon be doing away with estimated billing. The utility says it is upgrading natural gas and electric meters by installing an Automated Meter Reading System. The new meters will allow NIPSCO to get monthly readings by having a receiver mounted on a NIPSCO truck, rather than by going door-to-door.   It says the meters will only collect readings, not personal account information.   You'll get a letter in the mail in advance about it.   The new meter will be installed at no charge.

SOUTH BEND - One South Bend family was sleeping in the cold Friday tonight. They couldn't pay their heating bill, so their gas was shut off. With the falling temperatures, the family said that isn't fair. They received a letter from NIPSCO on Wednesday asking them to pay their late bill immediately. One day later, on Thursday, their gas was turned off and locked up. NIPSCO said that letter was a last resort - the family had more than enough chances to pay their bill.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Two of Indiana's largest natural gas utilities are projecting heating bills won't be any higher this winter. NIPSCO says if winter temperatures are normal, its customers should see an 8 percent decrease in their overall home heating bills from a year ago. Vectren says bills should be similar to last winter's, assuming normal weather. NIPSCO says its average residential customer could expect to pay approximately $461 this winter, down from $499 last year.

MERRILLVILLE - If you need to call NIPSCO, you might have to wait awhile. NIPSCO is experiencing technical problems with its phone systems, which the utility says may force customers to wait longer to have questions answered. NIPSCO officials say they're still taking calls to their customer service line at 1-800-4NIPSCO (800-464-7726) but are focusing on addressing emergency needs such as gas leaks or power outages. In the meantime, customers may be able to access account information through the 1-800 number of NIPSCO.com.

MERRILLVILLE, Ind. (AP) - An agreement calls for the electricity rates paid by Northern Indiana Public Service Co. customers to increase by about one-fourth as much as regulators had approved last year. NIPSCO reached the agreement with the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, some industrial customers and a coalition of northern Indiana communities that objected to the approved 16.8 percent hike. The settlement announced Tuesday would increase the average residential bill by 4.5 percent, or $3.33 a month.

Do you feel like you could plug up some holes in your energy usage, but you just don’t know where? The Northern Indiana Public Service Co. is offering a home energy audit for some of its natural gas customers in South Bend and Elkhart. You pay $50 to reserve an appointment, which is refunded once the audit is done, NIPSCO spokesman Nick Meyer said. The audit is worth about $250. There are a limited number of spots available, he said. NIPSCO has hired the staff of Thermo-Scan Inspections to do the audits and then — if approved — to do the work to make the house more efficient.

MERRILLVILLE, Ind. (AP) — The Northern Indiana Public Service Co. has agreed to expand its use of homegrown renewable energy sources. The Times of Munster reports that NIPSCO in a settlement filed Monday with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission agreed to buy power from renewable electric projects of up to 5 megawatts. The Wind Energy Development Program of the U.S. Department of the Interior says that's enough electricity to power from 1,200 to 1,500 homes.

SOUTH BEND — The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission ranks NIPSCO as the state's least expensive natural gas company. Season Napier is laughing all the way to the bank. So far this winter, she has found that turning up the thermostat at home is costing her much less. "We were paying $85 per month last year," said Napier. "This year we're paying $35. " Napier is not alone. "The budget went down over 50 percent," said Jim Hobbs. Hobbs is keeping the extra savings from his natural gas bill in the bank, and across Northern Indiana people just like him are noticing significant savings every month.

A disturbing summer trend is picking up in St. Joseph and Elkhart counties: Nearly two dozen gas leaks just this month . The most recent happened Wednesday in the Georgetown neighborhood north of South Bend when a landscaping crew installing a sprinkler system hit a 1/2-inch gas line. It's the third time a line was hit in that neighborhood during the project. Clay Fire Territory officials told WSBT it has responded to a gas leak on nine of the last 10 days.

CROWN POINT, Ind. (AP) - State regulators will take public comments this month at a public hearing on Northern Indiana Public Service Co.'s plan to recover the costs of improvements in pollution controls through increased electricity rates -- about $1.07 to the average monthly residential electric bill by 2017. . The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission will hold a public field hearing April 22 in Crown Point. NIPSCO is asking regulators to approve its plan to install new pollution control equipment at three of its power plants to meet federal environmental regulations.

CROWN POINT, Ind. (AP) - State regulators will take public comments this month at a public hearing on Northern Indiana Public Service Co.'s plan to recover the costs of improvements in pollution controls through increased electricity rates -- about $1.07 to the average monthly residential electric bill by 2017. . The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission will hold a public field hearing April 22 in Crown Point. NIPSCO is asking regulators to approve its plan to install new pollution control equipment at three of its power plants to meet federal environmental regulations.

MERRILLVILLE, Ind. - NIPSCO could soon be doing away with estimated billing. The utility says it is upgrading natural gas and electric meters by installing an Automated Meter Reading System. The new meters will allow NIPSCO to get monthly readings by having a receiver mounted on a NIPSCO truck, rather than by going door-to-door.   It says the meters will only collect readings, not personal account information.   You'll get a letter in the mail in advance about it.   The new meter will be installed at no charge.

SOUTH BEND - South Shore Railroad service has been restored between South Bend and Chicago, but passengers should expect delays en route. Trains had halted between South Bend and East Chicago earlier today because of a loss of power from NIPSCO in Porter County, according to the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District. Train 506 is running 60 to 90 minutes late. Train 505 is running 45 to 60 minutes late. Those were the first trains operating through the affected area in Porter County.

MERRILLVILLE, Ind. - NIPSCO has some good news as we head into the cold weather season. Assuming we have normal winter temperatures, NIPSCO expects our home heating bills to be among the lowest in a decade and slightly below last year's bills. Over the course of the five-month winter heating season, November 1 to March 31, utility spokeswoman Kathleen Szot says NIPSCO's average residential customer using a total of 624 therms can expect to pay about $438. That compares to $440 for a customer using the same amount of gas last winter.

SOUTH BEND - Some people in South Bend's River Park neighborhood were forced from their homes by a gas leak Wednesday afternoon. It happened just before 4 p.m. near the intersection of 29th Street and Northside Boulevard. Firefighters say a private contractor was working to dig up a tree when they ruptured a gas line. About 20 people were evacuated to nearby Nuner Primary Center while crews worked to cap the leak. "We had some people who wanted to check their animals out," said South Bend Fire Battalion Chief Jim Luccki.

An Elkhart County man has found a way to lessen his electric bill and make money at the same time. WSBT's Ed Ernstes takes a look at the solar power system that may also be helping pump power into your home.   Marvin Bartel has a lot near his home that's home to a small vegetable garden. It's there he recently had two large solar panels installed, a source of clean electricity. There's plenty of sunshine there, unlike near his house which is shaded by trees. “It seemed to be economically feasible and the right thing to do, for the ecology, for the environment as well, so we decided to go with it,” Bartel said.

MISHAWAKA - You might want to avoid the busy intersection of Day and Main for the next 24 hours. A gas main near the busy intersection was hit, causing a leak around 9:30 Wednesday morning, and NIPSCO expects traffic restrictions at the intersection through Thursday. Late Wednesday afternoon, both southbound lanes and one northbound lane were reopened. NIPSCO Public Affairs Manager Angie Nelson tells WSBT contractors were working on an electrical project at the intersection when they hit a two-inch gas main.

CLICK HERE to view NIPSCO's online 'outage center' with restoration info OR call 1-800-4-NIPSCO (1-800-464-7726) 24-hours a day.    Forecast from WSBT Meteorologist Abby Weppler Partly sunny and hot Saturday. Scattered showers and thunderstorms are possible. Highs will be in the lower 90s. Partly cloudy tonight with a few isolated showers and storms possible and a low around 70. Partly sunny Sunday with a slight chance of rain and thunderstorms.

Nearly 71,000 Indiana Michigan Power customers in Indiana are still without electricity , but less than 400 St. Joseph County families are affected. For I&M outage map, click here Most of the repairs that still need to be made following that big rainstorm Friday afternoon are in the Fort Wayne area, where over 68,000 people remain without power Sunday afternoon. I&M expects all the power to be restored in St. Joseph County by late Sunday night, although people in Fort Wayne probably won't have all of their electricity back on until late Wednesday night.

A disturbing summer trend is picking up in St. Joseph and Elkhart counties: Nearly two dozen gas leaks just this month . The most recent happened Wednesday in the Georgetown neighborhood north of South Bend when a landscaping crew installing a sprinkler system hit a 1/2-inch gas line. It's the third time a line was hit in that neighborhood during the project. Clay Fire Territory officials told WSBT it has responded to a gas leak on nine of the last 10 days.