NIPSCO president vows to ‘learn from' storms that knocked out power for weeks

President and COO Vince Parisi testified before Indiana lawmakers during a Tuesday hearing aimed at determining if NIPSCO did anything wrong in its response to the prolonged power outages, which impacted more than 60% of the company’s customers. Some of those customers were left without power for nearly two weeks, leading to calls for an investigation from customers and Indiana Gov. Mike Braun. In defending the company, Parisi said the main culprit was the storm itself.He told lawmakers the storm gained in intensity as it crossed from Illinois into Indiana, and socked the area with ferocious 110 mph winds. “By the time the storms entered our service territory, conditions were materially more severe than had been forecasted,” Parisi told lawmakers during the hearing. The weather service reports of the storm confirm that “peak wind gusts” were concentrated in Lake and Porter Counties in Indiana, although wind gusts also exceeded 90 miles per hour in Illinois. Specifically, lawmakers grilled Parisi on NIPSCO’s vegetation management program, asking him whether the company remove enough miles of trees and shrubbery around power lines to prevent damage in a storm. He told lawmakers he believes the company did – but acknowledged there might be an overall problem with the grid amid increasingly powerful storms. “The storm produced winds up to and in excess of 100 miles an hour in some areas, exceeding what the system was designed to withstand,” Parisi said. Parisi says NIPSCO customers were not supposed to be billed for power during the outage, but says the company will look at “fixed costs.” His words were cold comfort for residents of Gary, many of whom told NBC 5 they saw no reduction in their latest NIPSCO bill to account for not having power. Johanna Flemming owns and operates Caribbean Roots restaurant in the Miller Beach section of Gary. “We still got our bill and there was no change on it at all,” Flemming told NBC 5. She said her restaurant was dark for ten days and estimated the total damage at $10,000, and while she said she’s not looking for reimbursement, she is demanding accurate billing from NIPSCO. “They’ve never offered a discount for anything. The lights go out, the power goes out, and nothing,” Flemming said. “It’s important that they be held accountable.” Parisi said he’s heard the complaints. “NIPSCO will learn from the event and act on those lessons,” Parisi said during the hearing. “We recognize the trust is earned and through performance and the experience of our customers every single day.” NIPSCO says they’ve hired a third party to do an independent investigation, amid multiple state investigations. They say they’ll share all the results publicly.