NIPSCO Faces Class Action Over 1,500-Dollar Storm Outage Costs in Northwest Indiana
Updated
Updated · WLS-TV · Aug 22
NIPSCO Faces Class Action Over 1,500-Dollar Storm Outage Costs in Northwest Indiana
3 articles · Updated · WLS-TV · Aug 22
Summary
Thousands of northwest Indiana residents were still without power Friday as a class-action lawsuit accused NIPSCO of failing to manage vegetation and inspect poles and lines, allowing fallen trees to trigger preventable outages.
1,500 dollars in hotel and food costs have already hit some families, while disrupted work, school and daily routines pushed residents to seek meals, hygiene supplies and other aid at community relief sites.
550 people sought help at one Hobart school site Thursday, up from 300 on its first day, as outages also knocked out a new sewer system in part of Gary, causing backups and prompting portable toilets and showers.
NIPSCO denied the allegations, said its vegetation-management spending has more than doubled since 2016, suspended service disconnections through next week and said its immediate focus remains restoring power.
Legal analysts said the plaintiffs still face a difficult case because they must show the trees were within areas NIPSCO was responsible for maintaining rather than on private property or outside utility zones.