Wind Turbine Billing in Question at West Central

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon told the school board last week that he has been in touch with NIPSCO and Performance Services concerning the net metering with the wind turbine. He says the billing just isn’t right.

“There doesn’t seem to be any means of reconciling some of the billings that we’re getting from NIPSCO,” said Mellon. “I think we need to be able to reconcile the number of kilowatts we’re producing with what we’re using and what we need to bring in from the grid and when we’re overproducing. We need to get a standardized process.”

NIPSCO Warns Against Recent Scams

Posted on Author WKVI

NIPSCO is warning customers of a number of scams in the area that involve NIPSCO impersonators.

Nick Meyer, director of external communications at NIPSCO, says some impersonators will come to your door and ask to come inside because they need to check on gas lines or other service lines. Utility workers don’t normally ask to come into your home. If you encounter this type of situation, Meyer offers this advice.

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Third Intense Storm In Three Weeks Tears Through N. Indiana

Posted on Author WKVI

Another intense storm rolled through northern Indiana over the weekend – the third significant storm to hit the area in three weeks. NIPSCO reports that at its peak, Saturday evening’s storm caused more than 60,000 NIPSCO customers to lose power, and more than 3,000 Kankakee Valley REMC customers were without power as well.

According to the National Weather Service, the storm produced winds up to 70 mph, causing widespread damage across several northern Indiana counties. Power lines were downed, transformers were blown, and poles were broken.

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Cleanup and Repair Still Underway In Wake Of Yesterday’s Storm

Posted on Author WKVI

Cleanup and repairs are still underway in Starke County following yesterday morning’s storms. More than 80,000 Hoosiers were without power for a period of time, and Kankakee Valley REMC reports that roughly 3000 people are still without power, while NIPSCO says they still have more than 12,000 people out of service.  412 Knox residents remain without power today.

NIPSCO is reportedly bringing in additional crews from Missouri, Wisconsin, and Ohio, and KVREMC says they are working day and night along with neighboring co-ops to get power restored as soon as possible. Lake and Porter counties were reportedly hit the hardest by the damaging winds and rain, which crossed northern Indiana early yesterday morning, leaving downed trees, snapped electric poles and wires in their wake.

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Destructive Storm Tears Through Starke County and Surrounding Area

Posted on Author WKVI
Dennis Estok, Bruce Williams, and Jim Coad cleaning up storm damage at annex.

A destructive storm ripped through the Starke County and Knox areas Tuesday morning, cutting out electricity to over 80,000 NIPSCO and Kankakee Valley REMC members at one time.

Starke County EMA Director Ted Bombagetti talks about where most of the damage is located.

“Most of the damage is in the City of Knox itself,” said Bombagetti. “We do have some out in the outlying areas. The trees literally knocked down poles and wires. If you don’t need to be out, let the guys do their job and get the roads cleared up.” Homeowners may need storm damage repair services to restore their damaged properties.

He said the most important thing to focus on during times like this is getting emergency response to those who need it.

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NIPSCO Offers Credit For AC Cycling Program

Posted on Author WKVI

With extremely hot temperatures outside over the last several weeks, the electric grid is under a great deal of stress. To combat this, NIPSCO is partnering up with customers to manage the load by utilizing the Air Conditioner Cycling Program.

The program works by using a remote-controlled switch on or near the outside unit of a home’s central AC unit, allowing the compressor to be cycled for short amounts of time during periods of high electric demand. This cuts down on the use of electricity while allowing the blower motor in the air handler to continue to circulate already-cooled air.

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NIPSCO Reports Credit Scam Throughout Northern Indiana

Posted on Author WKVI

A credit scam has been reported to NIPSCO officials.

NIPSCO customers have been receiving phone calls where a scammer asks the customer to provide personal information and says that after all that information is submitted, the customer will receive energy credits from the government. The scam artist will ask for your Social Security number and then give you a fraudulent bank routing number to pay utility companies.

NIPSCO reminds you to never give out personal information to unconfirmed sources. NIPSCO only asks for a Social Security number when a customer is applying for new service.

Utility companies are working with law enforcement to bring an end to the scam.

Crews Still Working To Clean Up Storm Aftermath

Posted on Author WKVI
Scenes like this one in North Judson were all too common in the wake of weekend storms.

Crews are still working diligently to clean up the damage from last weekend’s series of storms, but Bass Lake Fire Chief Les Jensen says the clean up efforts are going very well. The Starke County Highway Department has been removing branches from roads and power lines, and Jensen says the roads around Bass Lake that were previously closed are now open. However, some branches are still close to the road because cleanup crews had focused on getting the roads cleared and open, but those branches will soon be removed.

The NIPSCO Outage Center reports that only one customer in the Knox area is still affected by outages, with a total of 97 NIPSCO customers affected in Northern Indiana. KVREMC crews are also making efforts to clear lines and undo damages caused by the storm.

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Storm Yesterday Causes Few Injuries, No Estimate On Power Restoration

Posted on Author WKVI
Scenes like this one in North Judson were all too common in the wake of yesterday’s storm.

Kankakee Valley REMC has reported over 7000 people without power in Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Starke, and Pulaski counties after the afternoon storm that tore through the area on Friday. KVREMC dispatched crews yesterday to affected areas to begin restoring power. Causing the outages are five substations that have been reported down due to transmission feeds from NIPSCO being out as well as broken poles and downed wires.

Starke County Commissioner Kathy Norem says the hardest hit area seems to be around Bass Lake, where boats were reportedly flipped over in the water and even tossed up on land. Several trees were felled and Norem says cleanup crews have their work cut out for them.

“The hardest hit areas seem to be in California Township around Bass Lake and North Bend Township, also around Bass Lake. The crews have been out, the highway department is out, the Sheriff’s Department has been out, but there is a lot of damage in that particular area and it’s going to be a long cleanup,” Norem said.

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Brief Storm Causes Thousands To Go Without Power, Few Injuries Reported

Posted on Author WKVI
Several trees were reported to have fallen, some even across the road, in several areas throughout the Kankakee Valley.

A storm tore through the Kankakee Valley on Friday, cutting off power to thousands and causing a number of roads to be closed. The storm also caused at least two injuries, as two boys were injured when a tree fell on them near Bass Lake and were transported to IU Health Starke Hospital for treatment.

The Bass Lake area suffered a large amount of damage from the storm. Boats were reportedly flipped over in the water or even flung up on shore, and several piers were reported to have been broken or missing entirely.

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Expanded Programs Help NIPSCO Customers Save More Money and Energy

Posted on Author WKVI

NIPSCO recently announced expanded programs for homes and businesses that invest in energy-efficient equipment by adding new money and energy-saving product rebates.

“With the addition of new types of rebates, we hope to encourage more people to choose high efficiency equipment for their custom homes and businesses,” said Kevin Kirkham, director of energy efficiency programs. “Since our rebate program began in 2008, more than $8 million in rebates have been given to customers.”

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NIPSCO Adds New Customer/Crew Tools In Preparation For Storm Season

Posted on Author WKVI

NIPSCO has announced plans to release new technologies in preparation for storm season. Nationwide, weather-related problems are the top cause of power outages, and the company plans to improve customer communication and field crew response time in hopes in increasing their response time to outages.

NIPSCO will utilize two new channels to enhance existing communications activities around power outages: mobile web and social media. Electric customers can quickly inform the company of outages and view the latest restoration updates with the added power outage tracking and reporting feature, and the company has also added a Twitter page which will be used to communicate major electric outage information.

They have also announced that NIPSCO crews will be put on alert when a major storm is in the forecast, and their new automated callout and scheduling tool will allow them to get Operations Teams working as quickly as possible to mobilize crews and equipment to restore power.

Power to be Restored to Knox Residents at 1:30 p.m.

Posted on Author WKVI

Power should be restored to 732 Knox customers by 1:30 p.m.

NIPSCO Public Affairs Officer, Rick Colinski, said that a car accident at Portland and Pacific streets in Knox caused the outage. Crews are replacing a cross bar that was broken on the pole that was hit by the car. Officials at the Starke County Sheriff’s Department said there were no injuries sustained in the accident.

Nelson Chosen as NIPSCO Manager of Public Affairs

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke United Executive Director Julie Dessauer and NIPSCO Manager of Public Affairs Angela Nelson

NIPSCO has a new Manager of Public Affairs in northern Indiana. Angela Nelson replaces Mike Charbonneau in that position, and she attended the Starke United Radio Auction last week, where WKVI’s Ted Hayes took the opportunity to interview her.

Nelson, who has been on the job for four months, told WKVI a little bit about herself.
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West Central Wind Turbine Project Breaks Ground

Posted on Author WKVI
Rep. Doug Gutwein, R-Francesville, Performance Services President Tim Thoman, West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon and Pulaski County Commissioner Mike Tiede

West Central School Corporation representatives and student leaders, as well as parents and members of the press, were present to celebrate the start of construction on the school’s utility-grade wind turbine project. A ceremonial breaking of the ground was planned for Friday, Sept. 30 at 9:30 a.m., but because of rain, the ceremony was held inside the auxiliary gymnasium and Superintendent Charles Mellon wisely decided against digging a hole in the gym floor to commemorate the occasion.

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Groundbreaking Ceremony Planned for Wind Energy Project at West Central Schools

Posted on Author WKVI

The West Central School Corporation will hold a groundbreaking event for the Wind Power Project on Friday, September 30th at 9:30 a.m. ET.

This is Indiana’s first community wind project to be part of the NIPSCO Feed-in-Tariff program. The turbine will be located on the school campus in the agricultural field behind the football stadium.

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Electric Customers Urged to Conserve

Posted on Author WKVI

Kankakee Valley REMC and NIPSCO customers are being asked to conserve electricity as much as possible.

REMC has been working with its large power customers by implementing agreements that allow for interruption of service. Residential and small commercial customers are asked to voluntarily limit the use of electricity as much as possible. All load management problems are being used to reduce demand. Turn off all unnecessary lights, delay the use of major appliances until late at night or early morning hours and set thermostats no lower than 78 degrees.

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Koontz Lake Sewer Project Ahead of Schedule

Posted on Author WKVI
Crews work to install rebar for the walls that will contain the tanks

Paul Warnke and Ken Jones came before the Starke County Commissioners this week to report on the progress of the Koontz Lake Sewer Project.

Jones told the Commissioners that the project is ahead of schedule and street and road restoration began this week which is making the public very happy.

The restoration could not begin until NIPSCO pressure tested the power to the grinder pumps. After that was done, the cuts in the road could be restored. Continue reading →