NIPSCO trying to head off summer problems

The public utility that serves natural gas and electricity customers in Northwest Indiana wants to eclipse potential energy-flow issues this summer.

Utility operators still have fresh memories of the Great Blackout of Aug. 14, 2003, when an outage starting in Ohio darkened eight states and parts of Canada. NIPSCO was spared from that blackout, though its system suffered power surges in its early stages.

NIPSCO wants the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to speed up studies that examine the issue so solutions can be found, according to NIPSCO.

"We want to make certain that we are doing everything possible to serve our customers' electric needs through the summer and into the future," NIPSCO President Mark Maassel said.

"With summer approaching, and predictions of warmer-than-normal temperatures, we are requesting that (the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) address these issues as soon as possible."

NIPSCO is a member of the grid operator for the Midwest, called the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator (MISO), based in Carmel, Ind. ComEd in Illinois, a subsidiary of Exelon, and American Electric Power Co. are members of the PJM Interconnection, which is a grid operator serving mainly eastern states.

NIPSCO said ComEd and AEP are causing large power flows through its system from east to west, which interfere with transmission to its own customers.

The MISO grid operator already is asking NIPSCO to cut down on output from its power plants at certain times, according to Tom Cuddy, a NIPSCO spokesman. At other times, the MISO asks the utility to delay planned outages, which it must do for maintenance.

NIPSCO attributes those requests to adjustments that have to be made to make up for the increased power flows caused by ComEd and AEP.

Also, there long have been concerns about the interconnections between MISO and PJM and coordinating operations at the two during power interruptions or emergencies.

NIPSCO also has weighed in with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on the proposed merger of Chicago-based Exelon and Public Service Enterprise Group Inc., which NIPSCO says has the potential to create similar problems. That merger would create the nation's largest electric utility.