Pipeline Safety Violations

The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (URC) approved a settlement agreement between the URC’s Pipeline Safety Division and Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO).

The commission noted that its Pipeline Safety Division has jurisdiction over intrastate pipelines operated and maintained by utilities such as NIPSCO. In the stipulation, NIPSCO agreed to pay a civil penalty of $900,000 for past violations, which assessment was the highest in state history. The infractions cited by the Pipeline Safety Division related to state pipeline safety standards, which largely mirror federal standards. Among the violations listed were a failure by NIPSCO to keep accurate maps and records of its underground facilities as well as an inability to locate its pipelines in two days as required by its own pipeline safety procedures.

In addition to a monetary fine, the settlement also included certain other compliance actions, such as reporting on performance metrics applicable to locating its facilities, implementing a pipeline safety management system, and encouraging closer coordination between NIPSCO and the Pipeline Safety Division in carrying out their respective pipeline safety duties. More particularly, the company attested in the agreement that it will provide information and ongoing reporting to both the Pipeline Safety Division and the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor as to its pipeline safety activities. It also pledged to pay additional civil penalties for violations it may commit going forward.

The commission remarked that it remains extremely concerned that there does not appear to be a sense of urgency on behalf of NIPSCO to update and modernize its pipeline maps and records. It therefore urged NIPSCO to consider ways in which it could accelerate its timeline for completion of the digitization of its records and other geographic information system reform projects. The company was instructed to include such plans in its next transmission, distribution, and storage system improvement charge proceeding. (Cause No. 44970)