Date: Tuesday, 4/7/2026
Time: 6 PM Central
Location: Dean and Barbara White Community Center
6600 Broadway, Merrillville, IN 46410
Indiana is in the midst of a utility affordability crisis. In this in-person town hall, Citizens Action Coalition will break down why NIPSCO bills are skyrocketing and how we can all advocate for much needed change. There will be a Q&A at the end, so be sure to bring your questions!
Even though NIPSCO has testified that they have not done any upgrades in the past 30 years, the NIPSCO electric bills have increased by over 25% due to infrastructure upgrades and market demands, with some customers seeing bills double or triple. Rising costs have triggered an investigation by Indiana regulators. Customers can manage bills through budget plans, payment assistance programs, and checking usage online.
- Purpose: To inform, organize, and push back against high utility bills in Northwest Indiana, which have forced families to choose between heating and food.
- Context: Residents are protesting massive increases in winter heating bills and potential rate increases, with reports of bills exceeding monthly mortgage payments.
- Involvement: The Citizens Action Coalition is actively engaging with affected community members.
- Related Action: A protest was previously held at the NIPSCO headquarters in Merrillville regarding natural gas rate hikes.
Attendees are often advised to bring their recent bills to review and to discuss options for advocacy.
According to Ben Inskeep from the Citizen’s Action Coalition, “a new settlement that would approve 2,400 MW of Amazon Data Centers could shift some transmission costs onto NIPSCO ratepayers.”
“Amazon is single-handedly ‘double’ the size of NIPSCO. It is one of the wealthiest corporations ever. It’s data centers should pay their full cost of service and not a penny less. So why are NIPSCO ratepayers being shortchanged billions of dollars under this backroom deal?” Ben Inskeep continued.
The CAC team will share information about legislation passed by the Indiana Statehouse and cases at the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) that have led to unaffordable NIPSCO bills. We will walk through much-needed solutions to help rein in out-of-control utility bills and how we can all push for the solutions Hoosiers need and deserve.
We’d love to see you there! Please RSVP at the link so that we know how many folks to expect.
Susie Young Baxter, CEO, has published PanoramaNOW Magazine for 31 years. Her hobbies are Camping, Boating, Hiking, Nature, Gardening and Outdoor Activities. She is an Artist, Graphic Designer, an Avid Seamstress, Dabbles in Homemade Crafts and Landscaping. Since her Father was a Health Teacher, she also likes homeopathic Health Solutions. Since blogging started over 10 years ago, PanoramaNow has been added to Newsbreak – a national news affiliate.
