NiSource

Last updated
NiSource Inc.
FormerlyNIPSCO Industries, Inc. (1987–1999)
Company type Public
Industry Public utility
Founded1912;112 years ago (1912)
Headquarters Merrillville, Indiana, U.S.
Key people
Lloyd Yates (CEO)
Products Natural gas, electricity
RevenueDecrease2.svg US$5.51 billion (2023)
Increase2.svgUS$1.29 billion (2023)
Decrease2.svgUS$662 million (2023)
Total assets Increase2.svgUS$31.1 billion (2023)
Total equity Increase2.svgUS$8.27 billion (2023)
Number of employees
7,364 (2023)
Website nisource.com
Footnotes /references
[1]

NiSource Inc. is one of the largest fully regulated utility companies in the United States, serving approximately 3.5 million natural gas customers and 500,000 electric customers across six states through its local Columbia Gas and NIPSCO brands. The company, based in Merrillville, Indiana, has more than 8,000 employees. As of 2018, NiSource is the sole Indiana-based utility company.

Contents

History

NiSource was founded in 1912 as the Northern Indiana Public Service Company, which merged with several other companies to become the Columbia Gas and Electric Corporation. Under the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, Columbia was forced to reorganize its subsidiaries and eventually spun off its electric utilities, becoming the Columbia Gas System. In 2000, NiSource merged with Columbia Energy Group, but in 2015, NiSource was spun off from Columbia Pipeline Group. [2] [3] The next year, Columbia Pipeline Group was acquired by TransCanada Corporation, while the Columbia Gas distribution companies remained with Nisource.

Company operations

NiSource's natural gas utilities provide domestically produced supplies of natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers via nearly 60,000 miles of pipeline and related facilities in six states: Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

NiSource provides electric energy to nearly 500,000 customers, all located in northern Indiana. NiSource's electric operations include power generation, transmission and local distribution, as well as wholesale and electric transmission transactions. NiSource uses both traditional and renewable generation sources, including natural gas, hydroelectric, wind, and coal generated supplies, providing a total system operating net capability of more than 3,000 megawatts.

NiSource has had a climate change policy in place since 2009. [4]

In 2015, NiSource was named to the Dow Jones Sustainability—North America Index for the second year in a row and for the ninth time since 1999. [5]

Internal organization

NiSource operates seven local utilities in its service region:

Recent corporate actions

On July 1, 2015, NiSource separated Columbia Pipeline Group (NYSE: CPGX) into a stand-alone publicly traded company. Each NiSource shareholder at the time of the separation received one share of Columbia Pipeline Group for each share of NiSource. The separation of Columbia Pipeline Group included Columbia Gas Transmission, Columbia Gulf Transmission, Columbia Midstream Group, its ownership in Columbia Pipeline Partners (NYSE: CPPL), and other natural gas pipeline, storage and midstream holdings. [6]

In January 2019, the company announced that it would accelerate retirement of its five coal-fired units, and focus on "renewable energy resources, such as solar and wind energy, along with battery storage technology," as part of an initiative titled "Your Energy, Your Future", with a goal of "reducing carbon emissions by more than 90 percent by 2028." [7] [8]

Criticism

In December 2011, the progressive activist group Public Campaign criticized NiSource for spending $1.83 million on lobbying and not paying any taxes during 2008–2010, instead getting $227 million in tax rebates, despite making a profit of $1.4 billion across those three years. Public Campaign's data is aggregated for all years and does not show annual data. Public Campaign further lambasted NiSource for increasing executive pay by 33% to $11.2 million in 2010 for its top five executives. [9] One rule NiSource, among other companies, benefited from was a bonus depreciation rule that lowered the federal tax expense.

NiSource responded by stating: "This law, enacted by Congress, encouraged companies like NiSource to accelerate capital investments to spur economic recovery by permitting portions of these investments to be deducted at an accelerated rate. Only the timing of the deductions was changed, and not the amount that could be deducted. This means our income tax expense will likely be higher in the future." [10]

Massachusetts gas line explosions and exit from Massachusetts

On September 13, 2018, 80 homes in Andover, Massachusetts, Lawrence, Massachusetts, and North Andover, Massachusetts, simultaneously exploded and caught fire due to issues with gas lines owned by Columbia Gas of Massachusetts, [11] [12] a subsidiary of NiSource. At least 25 people were injured and one was killed; residents from parts of three towns had to be evacuated for a few days and electricity service turned off until the area was inspected for gas. Gas service to 8,600 customers was disrupted, in some cases for months. Columbia Gas admitted that maintenance workers mishandled sensors that monitored gas line pressure, and pled guilty to violating the federal Pipeline Safety Act. The company paid a fine of $53 million, in addition to a $143 million settlement with residents and businesses, $83 million paid to municipalities, undisclosed amounts paid for injuries and one death, and direct spending on replacing damaged pipelines and appliances. NiSource agreed to sell its Massachusetts gas business to competitor Eversource, at a loss compared to what it paid to acquire Columbia Gas. [13]

Related Research Articles

Southern Company is an American gas and electric utility holding company based in the Southern United States. It is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with executive offices located in Birmingham, Alabama. As of 2021 it is the second largest utility company in the U.S. in terms of customer base. Through its subsidiaries it serves 9 million gas and electric utility customers in 6 states. Southern Company's regulated regional electric utilities serve a 120,000-square-mile (310,000 km2) territory with 27,000 miles (43,000 km) of distribution lines.

Eversource Energy is a publicly traded, Fortune 500 energy company headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut, and Boston, Massachusetts, with several regulated subsidiaries offering retail electricity, natural gas service and water service to approximately 4 million customers in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emera</span> Canadian energy company

Emera Incorporated is a publicly traded Canadian multinational energy holding company based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Created in 1998 during the privatization of Nova Scotia Power, a provincial Crown corporation, Emera now invests in regulated electricity generation as well as transmission and distribution across North America and the Caribbean.

Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company is a regulated electric utility company that serves over 843,000 customers in Oklahoma and Arkansas, including 1.5 million people in the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area. It is the leading subsidiary of OGE Energy Corp., with headquarters in downtown Oklahoma City. OGE Energy is also the former parent of Enogex Inc., a natural gas pipeline business which merged with CenterPoint Energy's midstream business to form Enable Midstream in 2013, in 2021 OGE and CenterPoint sold their general partnership in Enable Midstream to Energy Transfer. OGE Energy and its subsidiaries have about 3,100 employees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DTE Energy</span> Energy company based in Detroit

DTE Energy is a Detroit-based diversified energy company involved in the development and management of energy-related businesses and services in the United States and Canada. Its operating units include an electric utility serving 2.2 million customers and a natural gas utility serving 1.3 million customers in Michigan.

National Grid plc is a British multinational electricity and gas utility company headquartered in London, England. Its principal activities are in the United Kingdom, where it owns and operates electricity and natural gas transmission networks, and in the Northeastern United States, where as well as operating transmission networks, the company produces and supplies electricity and gas, providing both to customers in New York and Massachusetts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kinder Morgan</span> Energy Transportation Company

Kinder Morgan, Inc. is one of the largest energy infrastructure companies in North America. The company specializes in owning and controlling oil and gas pipelines and terminals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sempra</span> Utility holding company

Sempra is a North American public utility holding company based in San Diego, California. The company is one of the largest utility holding companies in the United States with nearly 40 million consumers. Sempra's focus is on electric and natural gas infrastructure and its operating companies include: Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) in Southern California; Oncor Electric Delivery Company in Texas; and Sempra Infrastructure, with offices in California and Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Integrys Energy Group</span> Former American energy company

Integrys Energy Group, Inc. was an American energy company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It was formed by the merger of WPS Resources Corp. and Peoples Energy Corp. on February 21, 2007. The chairman, President, and chief executive officer was Charles A. Schrock. On June 23, 2014, Integrys announced that it was being acquired by Wisconsin Energy Corporation for $9.1 billion. Also in 2014, Integrys entered into an agreement to sell 100% of the Upper Peninsula Power Company (UPPCO) to Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Partners LP for $298.9 million.

SCANA Corporation was an American regulated electric and natural gas public utility. The company was based in Cayce, South Carolina, a suburb of Columbia, South Carolina. Following the Nukegate scandal, the company's stock fell and the company was in disrepair. In January 2019, SCANA was acquired by Dominion Energy. The corporate name SCANA was not an acronym, but was taken from the letters in South Carolina.

WEC Energy Group is an American company based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin that provides electricity and natural gas to 4.4 million customers across four states.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chesapeake Utilities</span> American corporation

Chesapeake Utilities Corporation is an American corporation formed in 1947. Chesapeake Utilities Corporation is a diversified energy company engaged, through our operating divisions and subsidiaries, in various energy and other businesses. Headquartered in Delaware, Chesapeake Utilities Corporation operates primarily within the Middle-Atlantic, Southeast and Midwest regions, providing natural gas distribution and transmission, natural gas supply, gathering and processing, electric distribution and propane distribution service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Company Gas</span> American Fortune 500 energy services holding company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia

Southern Company Gas, formerly AGL Resources, is an American Fortune 500 energy services holding company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The company's operations consist of natural gas distribution, wholesale services, retail operations, and midstream operations. Southern Company Gas is one of the largest natural gas distribution companies in the United States. The company serves approximately 4.5 million utility customers through its regulated distribution subsidiaries across four states. Southern Company Gas made the Fortune 500 list in 2015, Forbes 2000 in 2006, and is a member of the S&P 500 Index. In 2016, Southern Company acquired AGL Resources and renamed it Southern Company Gas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PECO Energy Company</span> Energy company

PECO, formerly the Philadelphia Electric Company, is an energy company founded in 1881 and incorporated in 1929. It became part of Exelon Corporation in 2000 when it merged with Commonwealth Edison's holding company Unicom Corp.

The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) is the public utilities commission of the state of Indiana, led by five commissioners appointed by the governor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bailly Generating Station</span>

The Bailly Generating Station was a 604 megawatt (MW) coal power plant located in Burns Harbor, Indiana, on the shore of Lake Michigan adjacent to the Port of Indiana. The plant, which began operation in 1962 and tripled its capacity in 1968, is owned and operated by the Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO), an electric-utility operating division of the energy holding company NiSource. The plant ceased coal-fired electrical generation on May 31, 2018.

Unitil Corporation is an interstate electricity and natural gas utility company that provides services for New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maine. Its earliest predecessor company, the Portland Gas Light Company, was founded in Maine in 1849. The current company was set up in 1984 and is based in New Hampshire. With a market cap of 686.51M, it provides electric services to about 102,400 customers and natural gas to over 75,900 customers. The service territory of Unitil includes business districts and recreational centers as well as commercial and industrial business, such as electronic component manufacturers and education institutes. The company has an enterprise value of $766.54 million. The non-utility business is operated through the company's subsidiary, U-source, which is a national energy brokering and consulting company.

AltaGas is a North American energy infrastructure company based in Calgary, Alberta. It links natural gas liquids (NGLs) and natural gas to both Canadian and global markets. The company operates in four business segments: utilities, midstream, power and corporate.

References

  1. ↑ "US SEC: 2019 Form 10-K NiSource Inc". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. February 21, 2024. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
  2. ↑ "History". NiSource. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  3. ↑ "Units To Be Combined". The Cincinnati Enquirer . December 5, 1939. p. 20 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ Environmental Health and Safety Committee, NiSource Board of Directors (April 14, 2009). "Climate Change Policy" (PDF).
  5. ↑ Benman, Keith (16 September 2015). "NiSource named again to Dow sustainability index". The Times of Northwest Indiana . Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  6. ↑ Tincher, Sarah (2 July 2015), “Columbia Pipeline Group completes spin-off from NiSource”, The State Journal, retrieved 2 September 2015.
  7. ↑ Ober, Andy (January 10, 2019). "NIPSCO Looks to Ride Energy Revolution". Inside Indiana Business. Retrieved 2019-01-26.
  8. ↑ Grover, Sami (January 14, 2019). "Indiana utility to quit coal and cut CO2 90% within 10 years". TreeHugger. Retrieved 2019-01-26.
  9. ↑ Portero, Ashley. "30 Major U.S. Corporations Paid More to Lobby Congress Than Income Taxes, 2008–2010". International Business Times . Archived from the original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
  10. ↑ Tweh, Bowdeya (4 November 2011), "Report: NiSource among companies getting large tax breaks", The Times of Northwest Indiana, retrieved 2 September 2015.
  11. ↑ "More than 30 homes catch fire after natural gas issues north of Boston; 4 injured". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2018-09-14.
  12. ↑ Melanie Schuman; Ray Sanchez; Pierre Meilhan. "Gas explosions, fires reported in Massachusetts towns". CNN. Retrieved 2018-09-14.
  13. ↑ Columbia Gas Will Leave Mass. As It Pleads Guilty To Federal Charge After Disaster
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.