Class action lawsuit filed against NIPSCO over extended power outages

Source: 21 Alive News [Ft. Wayne]
Published: 2026-08-21
Author: WNDU [S. Bend] Staff
Post Date: 2026-08-22 12:07:20 by Esso
Views: 414

Lawsuit alleges failed vegetation management caused repeated outages, including massive Aug. 11 blackout


PORTER COUNTY, Ind. (WNDU) - A class action lawsuit has been filed against Northern Indiana Public Service Company, or NIPSCO, amid an extended power outage following deadly storms on Aug. 11.

Allen Law Group filed the lawsuit in Porter County on behalf of several plaintiffs, alleging NIPSCO failed to “comply with its legal, regulatory, contractual, and/or common law duties and obligations,” according to court records.

The plaintiffs argue that NIPSCO’s alleged failure to perform adequate vegetation management resulted in personal injury and/or pecuniary harm due to repeated and widespread power outages. Plaintiffs also claim NIPSCO prioritized investor profits over safety and grid reliability.

The court filing claims mismanaged vegetation allegedly caused repeated outages from August 2024 through August 2026, culminating in a massive Aug. 11 outage that left 317,000 customers, nearly 60% of NIPSCO’s electric base, without power.

According to the lawsuit, plaintiffs are seeking class-action certification, compensatory and punitive damages, and a jury trial. Plaintiffs claim they suffered personal injuries or economic losses, such as spoiled food or business impacts, due to NIPSCO’s negligent line maintenance.

The complaint highlights individual impacts, including one plaintiff who was discharged mid-oral surgery without pain control due to the outage. Other plaintiffs claim they suffered physical pain, emotional distress and financial losses.

As of 2 p.m. Friday, Aug. 21, more than 41,000 customers around NIPSCO’s service area remained without power. According to NIPSCO’s outage map, some areas are not expected to be fully restored until early next week.

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My sister was involved in that in Portage. She was without power for ten days.

She has a backup natural gas generator, but it won't power her A/C, just essentials like lights, refrigerator, well pump, etc.

The service [oil change] interval is 100 hrs [4 days]. It went way past that, but fortunately she was able to get a serviceman out to add oil and show her how to do that.

That must've sucked. I'm glad that derecho weakened before it got to Fort Wayne.

NIPSCO [Nisource (NI)] does both the gas and electric up there. Only the natgas in FTW. I&M does electric here.

I own stock in both NIPSCO and I&M. Utility companies typically pay pretty good dividends, a helluva lot more than Chase [0.01%] or my credit union [0.9%] on deposits.


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#1: Horse    To: Esso (#0)

PG and E did that in California. Seems the state government restricts what utilities can do to stop wildfires.

Then the federal government has quite a few whack jobs in many departments who believe it is wrong to out out forest fires.

Of course people in small towns can die in those fires but they are probably white and out of touch.

Horse posted on 2026-08-22 12:12:18   Reply   Private Reply

#2: Esso    To: ghostrider (#0)

I should've gone to the store this morning to get ready for my guest tonight, but I didn't feel like a half-day cross-country trek to go to what's normally four miles away.
Chris buzzed out the lawns yesterday, it's still pretty wet. He said we got ten inches of rain since he did it last time.
It's rainy today again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kim mentioned something about this last weekend. They should be extinct soon...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Esso posted on 2026-08-22 13:00:48   Reply   Private Reply

#3: Esso    To: Horse (#1)

PG&E's problem is that it's in Cali.

Chris and I were talking yesterday about the ice storm ~2010. It was bad, inches of ice. The power was out for days.
I had an 8kW NatGas generator over there that would run the whole house. The furnace and water heater was gas plus I had converted the vented gas fireplace to a 100% efficient non-vented gas log and plugged the flue.
Vented gas fireplaces will actually suck heat out of the house. An old lady a few doors down about froze to death using hers. Had I known she was there, I would've brought her to my Mom's and handicapped sister's house.
Everybody else went to motels. About every house in her neighborhood had broken water pipes/meters.
My primary heat is a 30kBTU non-vented gas fireplace. My worst winter bill is less than $60/month. They have standing pilots so they don't require electricity to work.

I got thinking while this was going on [My and Chris's power was out too], that this would be a disaster in the summer, so I got an 8kW gas unit for Mom's A/C condensing unit, just in case.
The following summer we had a derecho come through and her power was out again. I don't remember if mine was out or not.
That second generator saved the day, but I had to fuel it a couple times a day. I think I left it off at night or just let it run out of gas after the last fueling.
The NatGas unit [lights, furnace/air handler] ran 24 hours/day.

Good times...

Esso posted on 2026-08-22 14:09:52   Reply   Private Reply

#4: Horse    To: Esso (#3)

I am expecting several massive earthquakes and even more volcanoes on the West Coast within 12 months.

The whole place is run by lunatic liberals who still have not allowed one person to rebuild one home since Pacific Palisades fire 
which was on January 7 to January 31, 2025. Imagine Karen Bass not allowing maybe one building (her home) to be rebuilt after 16 months
along a stretch of coast that runs from San Diego to Seattle.

Nobody would ever vote for a Democrat for a 100 years.

 

 

Horse posted on 2026-08-22 16:32:31   Reply   Private Reply

#5: Esso    To: Dakmar, Horse, ghostrider (#3)

I haven't thought about that villaminium [Yard, exterior painting paid for with dues] in a long time.
BK [Big Kahuna, former boss], called me to do some repairs when his dad wanted to go south after a year there. Almost brand new.
Some vinyl soffits blew down in a storm. Probably about 12-20' worth.
The fix was pretty simple, so I went around the whole joint and fixed it all before it all came off.

I didn't have access to the inside, only the garage, where the blown off parts were.
I asked BK, Patrick, to show me the inside when we were settling up. I think it was a Sunday morning.
I thought it might be a good house for mom, Harold and sister, 1-story, because my younger sister was becoming more handicapped by the day.
Harold, my step-dad had a two-story colonial with a steep stairs going up to the second floor, making getting my sister upstairs dangerous.

I asked them later that day if they were interested in looking at it. They were.
I called Pat back and asked if he would come back to show them. He did.
They loved it.

I asked BK, "How much?"
"A hundred seventy-nine nine" [~1999-2000].
He had my cashier's check the next day. Fortunately the realtors weren't involved yet.

By the time I was done with the house, I really had it dialed in. I probably had about $300k in it after all the modifications.
My dumbass ex-wife, who got it in the divorce, sold it for $129,000. I would have paid her cash for it. We weren't exactly on speaking terms at the time.
To be fair, the homosexual Kenyan was the Prez, there must've been a housing/financial crisis going on. I don't remember.

As crazy as house prices are now, it's probably worth close to a million now.
Man, that fkn house was cool.
It would call me if anything was out-of-whack, temps too high or low, power out after a time I set, etc.
Mom had a LifeAlert thing that would call me if she fell or something, a pendant she wore, one in the shower, etc.

I used to use the house as a showcase of what I could do to prospective clients when I could actually work, but now cutting my lawn is a bridge too far with my injuries.
I just stand on the money button now, mostly.

Esso posted on 2026-08-22 18:13:16   Reply   Private Reply

#6: Esso    To: All (#5)

Jim and I never talked much about his mothers home as I can recall since we got back together.

He says all the photos were lost when his phone was broken in the accident.

I could send him a lot of customers if he was still working.

Kim



Esso posted on 2026-08-22 18:25:03   Reply   Private Reply

#7: ghostrider    To: Esso (#2)

about a month ago a crew came up the power lines and cut back all the trees along power lines, they hit the whole city, I have to watch the areas they did that we mow; look for any chunks wood they left on the ground. at least one oof the hens that hatched in March has started laying, she's olive egger with lots of gold tinting I call her Danica, Danica Patrick when she opens her wings you can see her racing stripes a white primary feather on each side. it has been drier than a popcorn fart in these parts for the past 50 days with a wicked heat index averaging 110. even with a clear sky last night the low only got down to 90.

ghostrider posted on 2026-08-22 19:07:57   Reply   Private Reply

#8: Esso    To: ghostrider (#7)

The power company came through the 'hood 10+ years ago and took a really nice Catalpa tree inside the wire.
I told them no.
They told me that they can do it with/without me in jail.

I think the new 'smart meters' were the same deal.
I didn't even bother arguing with City Utilities (water).

Why they need to know my instantaneous water usage to 0.01/gal is weird.
It used to be measured in units [748/gals or 100 cu feet], I think.

Esso posted on 2026-08-22 19:27:13   Reply   Private Reply

#9: ghostrider    To: Esso (#8)

that's close I just go by 8 gallons to the cubic foot at about 8 pounds per gallon. my water bill increased in one jump by $20.00 the price of water is/was still the same the city just tacked on more fees when they went to closing shop a 11:30 on Fridays.

ghostrider posted on 2026-08-22 19:42:18   Reply   Private Reply

#10: Esso    To: ghostrider (#9)

Rounding error.
I'm not sure about those new smart electric meters, but they can shut off your electricity from outer space or something.
It happened to Rainman over a bill dispute or something a couple years ago.
At 200 or so Amps, you'd almost have to think it's a destructive event for the meter.
I've looked in mine the best I could, but I don't know what kind of radiation they're emitting.
I'm leary about putting my eyes/face near an unknown radiation source for too long.
It might be my CBR/NBC training from the old days.

I have no idea where my water meter is getting it's electricity from (at ~1-2 units/month).

Come to think of it, the gas company was banging on my door a couple, three years ago and needed to replace my gas meter outside.
I let the kid do it, but he wanted to come into my house to 'inspect' and 'relight my standing pilot lights'.
There were none, it was summer and my fireplace was off, the gas instantaneous water heater had been abandoned-in-place 30 years previous and was shut off.

I don't like people without a signed warrant skunkin' around in my house or inside the wire.

Esso posted on 2026-08-22 20:49:21   Reply   Private Reply

#11: Esso    To: ghostrider (#9)

Ghost, Doc's tired and I don't wanna burn up all our time on 4um. We're going upstairs. It was fun.

 

 

Esso posted on 2026-08-22 21:14:35   Reply   Private Reply

#12: Prefrontal Vortex    To: Esso (#0)

"A major structural advancement occurred on June 8, 2021, when NiSource appointed Carlos Ayala as its first Vice President and Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer.  This appointment signaled a shift toward a dedicated, organization-wide DE&I strategy rather than isolated programs."

Although NIPSCO started diverse supply sourcing as early as 2009.

Prefrontal Vortex posted on 2026-08-23 09:23:07   Reply   Private Reply

#13: Prefrontal Vortex    To: Esso (#0)

May they be crushed in court.

Prefrontal Vortex posted on 2026-08-23 09:23:58   Reply   Private Reply

#14: Prefrontal Vortex    To: Esso (#2)

> They should be extinct soon...

Sadly no. In fact, there's a bumper crop reaching adulthood.

Prefrontal Vortex posted on 2026-08-23 09:31:57   Reply   Private Reply

#15: ghostrider    To: Esso (#11)

what are optics of shooting mimes using silencers, would society frown?

ghostrider posted on 2026-08-23 23:12:44   Reply   Private Reply