Protesters gathered to demand lower heating costs outside NIPSCO headquarters in Merrillville, Indiana
Anger is boiling over as utility customers in Indiana said their heating costs are getting out of control.
Advocates protested outside the Northern Indiana Public Service Company headquarters in Merrillville, Indiana, on Wednesday. It's their second protest in under a week.
Their message was simple — the cost of heat is too high.
"I said we got a protest. We gotta do something," said organizer Pastor Leo Tatro.
"I don't own any bulls, so otherwise it would've said something different, but I do have horses, and it's just a bunch of horse poop," said Crown Point resident Sandra Gonzalez, who held a sign attached to a rake with horse manure on it.
She was one of the residents who reported significantly higher bills this year compared to last winter.
"And this was after I put in a new furnace and a new air conditioner. You would think you would have a lower bill, but oh no," she said.
They came with a list of demands and said that time is ticking.
"We are giving them a seven-day notice. Seven-day notice," he said.
Those demands included restored access for the most vulnerable and lower prices. If not, protesters said they'll ramp up their own pressure campaign.
"So they got seven days to do this, and if they don't do this, we are gonna go ahead and start doing these protests and every single spot that NIPSCO go operates out of. It's going to be very uncomfortable," Pastor Tatro said.
NIPSCO customers said they have been struggling with increased bills, including one East Chicago restaurant owner who was charged roughly $1,700 for Dec. 2024, and then nearly $2,500 a year later.
CBS Chicago received some bills from viewers that showed their increases. Experts said it's a problem for nearly every natural gas customer.
"NICOR, for example, has a price right now that is 68% higher than what it was last February," said Jim Chilsen with the Citizens Utility Board.
Customers are seeing higher delivery fees from the utility companies and volatile gas prices straight from the source, after key issues, including January's nationwide snowstorm.
"The frigid temperatures can freeze cast at the well head down south and cause all kinds of production delays and problems," Chilsen said.
For those customers protesting the high costs, snow was piling up as fast as their frustrations.
"I think everybody's out here because we're tired of sleeping in the cold. Even in our house. We are in 60 degrees, and we are still paying an arm and a leg," Pastor Tatro said.
Organizers said that not only do those demands need to be met within the next seven days, but they are also not leaving fully on Wednesday.
The pastor said that he will sleep outside overnight to draw more attention to the issue.
CBS News Chicago reached out to NIPSCO about what's driving the rise in delivery and supply costs. They did not directly answer that question, but said customers use more natural gas in the winter than in the summer.
