BY KEITH BENMAN, Times of Northwest Indiana
kbenman@nwitimes.com
LaPORTE | The LaPorte County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution Tuesday calling for close scrutiny of any possible sale of NIPSCO's electric business.
"We've set a precedent in the state that LaPorte County has taken NIPSCO to task before and we continue to watch over what they do," said Democratic County Commissioner Barbara Huston, on Wednesday.
Starting in 2002, LaPorte County played the lead role in the three-year battle to force NIPSCO to keep five maintenance hubs open. More recently, it intervened in a case involving NIPSCO electric charges.
Now, the commission wants to make sure both state and federal regulators closely scrutinize any possible utility sale in order to protect ratepayers, Huston said.
The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission does not have direct authority over mergers taking place at the holding company level. However, in past mergers it has invoked its right to regulate issues such as transmission and pricing.
Two weeks ago, reports surfaced that NIPSCO parent company NiSource Inc. was close to selling off NIPSCO's electric business. In a conference call with industry analysts last week, NiSource CEO Robert Skaggs Jr. said information would be coming "sooner rather than later" on the company's restructuring plans.
The resolution passed by LaPorte commissioners on Tuesday also calls for state legislation to place a moratorium on any sale of NIPSCO electric operations, at least until state and federal regulators can take a closer look. It also calls for the Indiana General Assembly to consider legislation to create a northern Indiana power authority to acquire NIPSCO's assets.
The resolution notes many municipal utilities and rural electric membership cooperatives in the state deliver quality, affordable service to customers.
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