Expert fears dangers of extreme cost-cutting actions amid rising NIPSCO bills
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Pat McKelvey has spent his life working in the Michiana community and lately he’s seen a cry for help among Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) NIPSCO customers. He said he has first-hand seen many people use potentially deadly cost-cutting tactics to offset their rising bills.
He’s a retired union pipefitter and has a degree in Heating, Air Conditioning and Commercial Refrigeration, with various other licenses under his belt.
He’s may not be on the job anymore, but he couldn’t turn a blind eye when he got a call from a friend recently. The friend told McKelvey they had a neighbor who was an elderly NIPSCO customer.
The friend thought the neighbor’s furnace was broken because she had been using her grill inside an unventilated room in her house. The friend called McKelvey to see if he could help fix the furnace.
“…and she goes, ‘I don’t understand.’ And he goes, ‘Well, when I came on over here earlier, you had your grill in your house.’ She said, ‘It’s because I had my highest gas bill ever, and it was before it got cold.’ And she goes, ‘There’s nothing wrong with the furnace. I’m just scared of the bill, so I shut it off, and I’ve got this grill in here, and I feel very warm,’” said McKelvey.
McKelvey said doing that could come with a very different kind of cost, “Whether it be wood, propane, kerosene, whatever, it uses up all the oxygen and leaves the room filled with carbon monoxide, and you know, you just don’t wake up in the morning”.
He explained in all his years, this is most people he’s ever seen take extreme measures to stay warm. He believes people in the community may also be tampering with meters, something that can cause gas leaks.
“You could kill yourself, your neighbors, and it’s just not a good practice to ever mess with a gas line unless you’re a licensed contractor,” expressed McKelvey.
He said he’s also seen people run heaters in their home 24/7. He said that is dangerous and you should unplug all heaters through the night, and if you have an electric heater with a cord that is hot to the touch, he said to unplug and throw it out immediately. He believes this is a public crisis and something has to be done.
“I left a message for Governor Braun; I think they should suspend sales tax on utilities for a few months… I mean it’s not a lot but it’s something, and at this point, every penny counts… it really is dangerous, some of the things going on out there and so let’s all be safe and live through this winter and we’ll figure it out… I don’t want to see anybody die; nobody needs to die because they can’t heat their home… that’s my greatest fear… why does something always bad have to happen before we get anybody’s attention?" shared McKelvey.
ABC57 is working to have a sit down with Governor Mike Braun and NIPSCO about these concerns. Night Team’s Blake Parker is working on a special report on the subject, set to air Feb. 12 at five.
NIPSCO has previously provided the following statement to ABC57 on rising bills:
“We understand that some customers are seeing higher-than-normal bills, and we want them to know we hear them. We know this is frustrating, and we care about what they’re experiencing. Our priority is to support customers, answer their questions, and help them stay connected.
We’re committed to transparency outreach and helping customers understand and manage their bills. We appreciate our customers and want them to know assistance; payment options and the Budget Plan are available at NIPSCO.com/FinancialSupport and NIPSCO.com/BudgetPlan.”