Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO), a subsidiary of diversified energy company, NiSource Inc. NI, has reached a settlement agreement regarding its proposed seven-year infrastructure investment plan with its industrial customers, the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor (OUCC), the LaPorte County Board of Commissioners and the Indiana Municipal Utility Group. The company had originally applied for the electric modernization plan in January. The utility supplies electricity to about 460,000 customers across LaPorte, St. Joseph, Marshall and Elkhart counties in Indiana.
Details of the Project
The infrastructure plan includes the replacement of aging poles, underground cables and substation transformers and breakers with smart equipment in an attempt to ensure the supply of safe and reliable energy to customers.
The plan also covers a mass retrofit project for the replacement of the utility-owned streetlights with energy-efficient LED bulbs throughout NIPSCO's electric service territory. Costs will be shared equally by municipalities and customers. The company has also allocated up to $3.5 million for an economic development project at the Kingsbury Industrial Park in LaPorte County.
NIPSCO filed the infrastructure plan to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) under a law that allows utilities to recover the costs of capital improvement projects from consumers through surcharges called trackers. If approved by the state regulatory body, the agreement can lower capital costs by $80 million for infrastructure investments and raise charges by 7% in total by 2022 for electric customers.
NIPSCO’s original proposal had an estimated cost of $1.33 billion. The latest plan, however, is expected to involve an investment of $1.25 billion, including annual caps on rate recovery.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
NiSource currently holds a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
A top-ranked company in the same sector is Atlantic Power Corporation AT, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Other well-ranked stocks include Avista Corporation AVA and CMS Energy Corporation CMS, both carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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