Merrillville council to draft complaint over repeated NIPSCO outages and unaddressed streetlight outages

Council members raised persistent problems with NIPSCO service — including street lights remaining out for weeks and delayed new-service hookups for new construction — and asked town staff to take the matter to the state-level consumer advocate.

Multiple council members described repeated reports and long waits for repairs. Councilor Pettit and others said new homes and subdivisions were delayed for weeks waiting for electric service, and that street lights in multiple wards remained uncorrected. "We had to run a portable generator just to power up the digital billboard before they set a pole," Pettit said, describing a 10-week delay his operation manager experienced when setting a pole.

Mister Griffin, speaking for town staff, proposed preparing a letter to the Office of Utility Consumer Counselor and noted that as a regulated utility NIPSCO has a service-obligation framework tied to its rates. "We can file with the Office of Utility Consumer Counselor," Griffin said, recommending escalation so the company would pay more attention to repeated outages and service delays.

Council asked staff to compile a definitive list of inoperative street lights and to explore legal rights or administrative pathways to expedite repairs. The council also discussed distinguishing which poles are owned by NIPSCO and which are town assets, and directed staff to prepare a complaint letter for consideration at the next council meeting.

No formal enforcement action was taken at the meeting; staff said they would prepare the letter and return with proposed next steps.