INDIANAPOLIS — State Sen. Mike Bohacek (R-Michiana Shores) sent a letter this week to Attorney General Todd Rokita
requesting an investigation into potential deceptive consumer practices carried out by NIPSCO involving discrepancies in its natural gas bills across northern Indiana.
Bohacek was initially made aware of the issue after several people in his community contacted him about the recent increase in their energy bills. Bohacek was then informed that a number of automated natural gas meters were not delivering correct readings, resulting in more than 3,500 customers being billed for twice as much natural gas as they actually consumed.
“Utility rates have been increasing around the state, especially in northern Indiana, and having faulty information resulting in incorrect billing is unacceptable,” Bohacek said. “The possibility that NIPSCO knew about the meter problem and didn’t immediately disclose it to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission is extremely alarming.”
Bohacek’s letter calls upon the attorney general to investigate whether the practices carried out by NIPSCO fall under Indiana’s deceptive consumer sales statute, cited in Indiana Code. Under Indiana’s Deceptive Consumer Sales Act, courts can impose fines on businesses that engage in unfair or misleading practices against their customers.
“In testimony submitted to the IURC on March 6, NIPSCO testified that Hoosiers were charged for more gas than they consumed due to meter indexes not functioning properly,” Bohacek said. “If NIPSCO waited to disclose this issue to the IURC, they misled their customers, which would further reduce the trust between Hoosiers and NIPSCO.”
Constituents of Senate District 8 can contact Bohacek by filling out a “Contact Me” form online at http://www.IndianaSenateRepublicans.com/Bohacek or by phone at 800-382-9467.
