Indiana lawmakers grill NIPSCO on weeks-long power outages after August derecho

Indiana lawmakers on Tuesday grilled officials from power company NIPSCO about their handling of last month's severe storms, which left hundreds of thousands in Northwest Indiana without power, some of them for more than two weeks.

NIPSCO leaders have repeatedly noted the historic nature of the Aug. 11 Derecho, which caused more damage than they'd ever seen in company history.

But, at Tuesday's hearing before the state legislature's Interim Study Committee on Energy, Utilities, and Telecommunications, NIPSCO also indicated that forecasts were to blame, essentially arguing they might have prepared differently with more advance notice.

NIPSCO President and CEO Vince Parisi spent about 45 minutes addressing a packed room of lawmakers, largely defending NIPSCO's preparation for the storm and restoration efforts after it hit, addressing concerns the company had not done enough to clear trees surrounding their power lines.

"For this storm, it really wasn't a vegetation management issue. These were very high winds and very large trees outside of our right of ways that came down on our infrastructure," he said. "In the days and hours leading up to August 11th, the forecast consistently underestimated the eventual severity and duration of the storm.

However, CBS News Chicago's First Alert Weather team had been warning about the storm for days, including the night before, when Chief Meteorologist Albert Ramon warned the storm could bring wind gusts of up to 100 mph.

This hearing came just days after the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission formally launched an official investigation into NIPSCO's handling of the storm. Indiana Gov. Mike Braun ordered the investigation in order to determine whether NIPSCO properly cleared trees to protect power lines before the storms, and whether money was used to improve infrastructure as promised.

Indiana state Rep. Dr. Vernon G. Smith (D-Gary) pushed back on NIPSCO's claim the storm outages were not a vegetation management issue.

"It certainly was, and I don't want to be confrontational, but it certainly was. I can show you pictures now where there's trees that's up in the lines," he said.

Smith said he's not here for a blame game, but just wants to learn from this and make sure it doesn't happen again.

The stakes are high should investigators find NIPSCO didn't do enough.

"The fine for inappropriate vegetation management that causes a blackout is $1 million a day," said Indiana state Rep. Edmond Soliday (R-Valparaiso).

An expert from an organization that analyzes the electrical grid testified Tuesday about the need for utility companies to conduct routine inspections, manage trees, and consider steel utility poles rather than wooden ones. 

Gary Mayor Eddie Melton, a former state lawmaker and former NIPSCO employee, called for more vegetation oversight moving forward.

"As mayor, I want to know specific information on how long and how frequent has the maintenance been up in my community," he said.

Union leaders also argued a shift to contactors rather than NIPSCO employees played a part in the lengthy delays in power restoration.

"Reducing internal resources to their current levels and counting more heavily on external resources does not make sense, and results in delayed restoration and a higher cost to customers," said Ryan Baker, president of United Steel Workers Local 12755, which represents NIPSCO field workers.

For their part, NIPSCO said they will release the findings and recommendations of their internal investigation to the public by Thanksgiving. The company also said it is hiring an impartial third party to look at the situation.

NIPSCO released a statement sharing appreciation for the chance to join the meeting and "give the Committee a clear picture of what happened, how we prepared and responded, and our commitment to learning and implementing improvements moving forward."

NIPSCO released the following statement in part: 

"This unprecedented weather event caused extraordinary damage across northern Indiana. Before the storm, NIPSCO prepared by activating our emergency response plan. Once it was clear that the storm was more severe than projected, we brought in additional support and continued to do so as the scale of the damage became evident. More than 4,000 NIPSCO employees, contractors, mutual assistance crews, and emergency responders worked to restore power, and we are grateful for their support."