⚡NIPSCO HIT WITH CLASS-ACTION LAWSUIT AFTER NORTHWEST INDIANA POWER OUTAGES

Well, Northwest Indiana has been sitting in the dark, throwing away refrigerators full of food, paying for hotels and trying to figure out when the lights are coming back on.

Now somebody has turned on a different kind of power:

LEGAL POWER. ⚖️⚡

A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Northern Indiana Public Service Company, better known as NIPSCO, following the massive outages caused by the severe August 11 storms.

And the lawsuit is basically asking one BIG question:

Was all of this damage really just Mother Nature... or did somebody fail to do the maintenance that could have prevented some of it?

🌳 THE LAWSUIT SAYS: LOOK AT THE TREES

The lawsuit, brought by the Kenneth J. Allen Law Group, alleges NIPSCO failed to adequately manage trees and vegetation growing around its power lines BEFORE the storms arrived.

According to the complaint, NIPSCO allegedly failed to properly identify hazardous trees, clear vegetation away from transmission and distribution lines and adequately inspect poles and lines for vegetation-related problems.

Attorneys argue that NIPSCO knew vegetation could grow back into power lines between trimming cycles and should have been more proactive.

In other words, their argument is:

Yes, the storm knocked the trees down.

But...

Should those trees have been close enough to knock the power lines down in the first place?

👀

THAT'S what this lawsuit is going to fight about.

⚡ MORE THAN 300,000 CUSTOMERS WERE AFFECTED

This wasn't your regular little “lights blinked twice and the microwave clock needs resetting” outage.

NIPSCO says the August 11 storm caused extraordinary damage to its electrical system, with hundreds of thousands of customers affected. The utility reported restoring service to more than 300,000 customers, while some Northwest Indiana residents remained without electricity for many days.

And some families weren't just sitting around without television.

People reported:

Spoiled groceries.

Hotel expenses.

Flooded property.

Problems using medical equipment.

And disruptions to medical care.

One Lake Station mother told ABC7 that her family had spent roughly $1,500 on hotels and feeding her children while they waited for power to return.

🏥 ONE CASE INVOLVED A DELAYED SURGERY

One of the original complaints involved a 77-year-old Porter County woman whose emergency surgery to repair a fractured hip was allegedly delayed when the power went out.

The lawsuit alleges that the outage caused her additional pain and suffering.

Another plaintiff described having a dental procedure interrupted and then struggling to obtain medication afterward because of outages in the area.

So when attorneys talk about damages, they're not only talking about replacing some chicken and ice cream from the freezer.

They're arguing that prolonged outages affected people's homes, finances and, in some cases, medical care.

💰 AND THEN THERE'S THE ELECTRIC BILL...

This part is definitely going to get people's attention.

According to records cited by CBS Chicago from the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, NIPSCO has the highest residential electric rate among Indiana utilities at $233.62 per 1,000 kWh, while CBS reported the utility also ranked worst for reliability among Indiana utilities.

So you KNOW customers are looking at that information like:

“Wait... I'm paying WHAT... and I've been sitting in the dark HOW LONG?”

😐

That's a conversation NIPSCO probably didn't want arriving at the same time as a class-action lawsuit.

🗣️ NIPSCO SAYS HOLD ON NOW...

And to be fair, we've got to give NIPSCO its side too.

NIPSCO strongly denies the lawsuit's characterization of its vegetation-management practices and says it intends to vigorously defend itself.

The company says its vegetation-management program is overseen by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission and that its spending on vegetation management has more than doubled since 2016.

NIPSCO also says these storms caused unprecedented damage to its electrical system and that safety, reliability and restoring customers have remained its priorities.

And there's another important point:

Those winds were reportedly brutal.

NIPSCO says the storm produced winds reaching 99 mph and damaged roughly 300 utility poles and 44 transmission poles in Gary alone.

So this lawsuit isn't already won just because it was filed.

The plaintiffs will have to prove that NIPSCO's alleged maintenance failures actually contributed to their losses.

🔴 LADY RED SAYS...

Now THIS is where I'm going to be watching.

Because nobody is saying NIPSCO controls the weather.

NIPSCO can't walk outside and tell a 99-mph wind:

“Excuse me, sir. We're going to need you to bring that down to about 12.”

😂

But the lawsuit isn't really asking whether NIPSCO caused the storm.

It's asking whether the electrical system was properly maintained BEFORE the storm showed up.

And THAT is a completely different question.

If somebody properly maintains the trees, inspects the equipment and does everything they're supposed to do, and Mother Nature still comes through kicking over poles?

That's one thing.

But if attorneys can prove customers were repeatedly reporting dangerous vegetation, necessary trimming wasn't being performed and preventable hazards were left sitting beside power lines?

Now we got ourselves a whole different pot of gumbo.

And for the Northwest Indiana families who spent days sweating, throwing away food, paying hotel bills and wondering when somebody was finally going to turn their lights back on...

They're going to want receipts.

Not excuses.

The lawsuit is still allegations at this stage, and NIPSCO denies wrongdoing. A court will ultimately have to determine whether the utility was negligent and whether customers are entitled to compensation.

But one thing is certain:

After nearly two weeks of darkness for some residents...

NIPSCO is officially under a very bright legal spotlight. ⚡⚖️

Where the rumors, receipts and real talk collide. IT HITS DIFFERENT. EVERY TIME. BOOM!