Indiana H.B. 1002 aims to relieve homeowners of high utility bills, local NIPSCO customers not convinced
LA PORTE COUNTY, Ind. -- With the prolonged bitter cold weather, everyone is cranking up the thermostat to stay warm.
However, utility bills for both natural gas and electricity are on the rise, and Michiana residents have been speaking out about those outrageously expensive bills.
"I didn't open my bill for two days; I was so nervous," admits Terri Logan, a retired LaPorte County homeowner.
Four hundred and seventy-two dollars.
That's Logan's most recent, and highest NIPSCO bill yet.
"And they expect us to pay it, and we can't," Logan says. "We can't anymore."
Logan started noticing her NIPSCO bill increasing slightly over the past year.
"In December of 2024, compared to December of 2025, my bill doubled," says Logan.
She's far from the only one.
Just two weeks ago, Logan took to Facebook, creating a group called 'NIPSCO Monopoly Madness' for other nearby customers to chime in on their skyrocketing bills.
"I have over 19,000 followers as of this morning," shares Logan.
Her spirits were up when she learned about House Bill 1002 titled 'Electric utility affordability' that was introduced this month, which aims to provide relief for customers struggling to pay their extremely high utility bills.
Local State Representative Jim Pressel is a co-author.
"It made me think, finally, we're going to have some help here. They're going to go after NIPSCO and stop their gouging of us," Logan says. "But then when I started reading through the bill, I was upset because I realized it's not really doing anything for us."
Logan claims many of the items in the bill as it stands, wouldn't actually help lower her NIPSCO bills.
Though, things that would help like prohibiting companies from raising utility rates more than three percent, eliminating the sales tax on residential bills, and creating a two-year moratorium on fixed rates and charges were voted down Tuesday in a house session.
Rep. Pressel voted 'Nay' on some of those amendments.
"We're just feeling like our politicians have thrown us to the wolves and are leaving us at the mercy of NIPSCO unfortunately," says Logan.
Logan says she is especially nervous to see next month's bill with the freezing temperatures over the last few days.
Rep. Jim Pressel did not return ABC57's request for a comment or interview at the time of this story.
ABC57 did speak to State Senator Rodney Pol, who covers parts of La Porte County, who said he intends to bring the same amendments or more to H.B. 1002 when it goes to the Senate for a hearing.