The Aug. 11 storm was bad, and won't be the last. Controls to ensure safety need to be established. I wanted to put together an easy to follow call to action for real change.
The OUCC has already acknowledged one of the biggest problems: NIPSCO’s 10-year tree-trimming cycle is too slow for how quickly trees grow in Northwest Indiana.
Source: IURC case documents https://iurc.portal.in.gov/
WHAT YOU CAN ACTUALLY DO:
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Demand a vegetation standard from the IURC. Ask for a rule requiring a maximum vegetation-management cycle and measurable compliance standards. IURC: https://www.in.gov/iurc/ Phone: 1-800-851-4268
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Put the issue in the consumer record. Email the OUCC and ask them to raise vegetation management and reliability standards in NIPSCO proceedings. Email: uccinfo@oucc.in.gov Phone: 1-888-441-2494
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File an IURC complaint. Document your outage location, duration, vegetation, damage, and restoration timeline. Online: https://www.in.gov/iurc/online-services/
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Demand restoration standards. Tell your state senator and representative to establish enforceable restoration timelines with narrowly defined extreme-weather exceptions. Find your legislators: https://iga.in.gov/legislative/find-legislators
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Demand public storm data. Ask IURC and OUCC to require NIPSCO to report how many outages resulted from vegetation, equipment failure, and other causes.
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Document everything. Photograph vegetation, damaged lines/poles, dates, outage duration, and repeated problem locations. Submit the evidence with complaints and public comments.
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Ask candidates directly: “Will you support enforceable utility vegetation-management and restoration standards?” Get the answer in writing.
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Vote on the record. Share which elected officials support or oppose enforceable utility reliability standards—and vote accordingly.
Storms happen. Putting profits ahead of reliable power and public safety doesn’t have to.
thanks for letting me rant.
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