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Saturday, October 08, 2005

Ind. Law - "So, when did the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission become a welfare-assistance agency?"

"So, when did the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission become a welfare-assistance agency?" is the first line of this editorial today in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. The editorial continues:

Well, last year, really, when it backed NIPSCO’s plan to charge 50 cents per customer per month to help low-income families pay for gas. It was a one-year pilot program. Now, NIPSCO wants to bump the surcharge to 65 cents – a 30 percent increase. It may sound heartless, but this plan is just bad public policy.

Under the extension plan proposed by NIPSCO, the 65-cent surcharge, combined with $900,000 from the utility’s coffers, will create a fund of $7.9 million for the Winter Warmth program. Last year, the fund was $5.7 million, with NIPSCO putting in just $200,000. * * *

Hoosiers are known for their frugality, but they’ve also earned a reputation in helping families in a pinch. NIPSCO, a subsidiary of publicly traded NiSource, should’ve asked its customers to volunteer to toss in 50 cents a month to help the poor. Instead, NIPSCO wants to tax its customers to pay for a social welfare program green-lighted by a state board made up of political appointees whose main function is to protect Hoosiers from unfair practices.

Any mandated low-income energy aid program ought to come from the General Assembly, and then only after vigorous debate. Elected officials, the people most accountable to Hoosiers, should review the program and surcharges to determine if they are appropriate.

For background, see this 10/5/05 story from the Munster (NW Indiana) Times, which begins:
NIPSCO has proposed an expansion of its Winter Warmth heat-aid program, but wants its customers to pay the bulk of the cost.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 8, 2005 06:58 AM
Posted to Indiana Government | Indiana Law