Residents seek class-action lawsuit against NIPSCO over power outages in NW Indiana
A class-action lawsuit alleges NIPSCO failed to maintain vegetation, causing prolonged outages after storms.Summary
A class-action lawsuit has been filed against NIPSCO, the Indiana power company, alleging that it failed to maintain vegetation around power lines, leading to widespread and long-lasting outages following devastating storms earlier this month. The suit includes several plaintiffs, including Porter County resident Jack Tipold, who said he was sent home from a dental procedure due to the power loss. Attorneys are seeking damages and want NIPSCO to follow a vegetation management program. NIPSCO states it "regularly" trims trees and "strongly disagrees" with the claims, noting it has an active program and has doubled its spending on vegetation management since 2016. In Indiana, more than 40,000 were still without power as of Friday morning. NIPSCO officials noted that trees played a role in the outages. Attorney Otto J. Shragal stated that instead of trimming trees proactively on a 5-7 year cycle, NIPSCO simply reacts.
(Source：NBC 5 Chicago)