NIPSCO wants federal regulators to grant it more money from customers

NIPSCO spent $116.7 million from January through March to comply with Trump administration orders forcing the operation of two Jasper County coal units scheduled for retirement at the end of last year.

According to the Indiana Capital Chronicle, coal units at the R.M. Schahfer Generating Station in Wheatfield earned $33.5 million in coal-generated electricity sale revenue over that period, according to a Tuesday filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

NIPSCO is asking federal regulators to let it collect $38 million in quarterly costs from customers in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator’s 15-state footprint, which includes Indiana. The figure includes $2.8 million in profits for the utility company.

Also, state regulators dealt NIPSCO a blow when they rejected the utility’s $741 million, five-year plan for natural gas transmission, distribution and storage infrastructure improvements and charges.

In a scathing 3-0 denial issued Wednesday, the IURC said that NIPSCO “failed to provide sufficient evidence for the Commission to determine that each proposed eligible improvement is cost-justified.”