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{{#badges'''NiSource, Inc.''', based in Merrillville, Indiana, is a Fortune 500 company engaged in natural gas transmission, storage and distribution, as well as electric generation, transmission and distribution. NiSource operating companies deliver energy to 3.8 million customers located within the high-demand energy corridor stretching from the Gulf Coast through the Midwest to New England.<ref>NiSource, [http: Climate change |CoalSwarm}}//ir.nisource.com/overview.cfm "NiSource Corporate Profile"], Nisource website, August 2009.</ref>
'''NiSource companies include:<ref>NiSource, Inc[http://www.''', based in Merrillville, Indiana, is a Fortune 500 company engaged in natural gas transmission, storage and distribution, as well as electric generation, transmission and distributionsec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1111711/000095015209001944/c48955e10vk. NiSource operating companies deliver energy htm "Annual Report to 3the U.8 million customers located within the high-demand energy corridor stretching from the Gulf Coast through S. Securities and Exchange Commission for the Midwest year to New EnglandDecember 31, 2008"], Filed February 27, 2009. NiSource companies include:</ref>
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{{Show badges| Climate change |CoalSwarm}}
{{Infobox Company
| company_name = NiSource
| footnotes =
}}
* Columbia Gas (Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia)
* NIPSCO, "Northern Indiana Public Service Company" (Indiana)
* Bay State Gas (Massachusetts)
* Columbia Gas Transmission
__TOC__
{{Template:Violation_Tracker}}
==Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council==
NIPSCO was a "Director's"-level sponsor of ALEC's 2016 Annual Conference.<ref>Nick Surgey, "[https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2016/07/27/exxonmobil-top-sponsor-alec-annual-meeting/ ExxonMobil Top Sponsor at ALEC Annual Meeting]," ''Exposed by CMD'', Center for Media and Democracy, July 27, 2016.</ref>
{{about_ALEC}}
==CEO compensation==
In April 2008, ''Forbes'' listed NiSource CEO [[Robert C. Skaggs Jr.]] as receiving $810,000 in total compensation in the previous fiscal year, with a five-year total compensation of $2.58 million. He ranked 39th on the list of CEOs in the Utility industry, and 498th out of all CEOs in the United States.<ref>[http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/12/lead_bestbosses08_Robert-C-Skaggs-Jr_3MN7.html CEO Compensation: #489 Robert C Skaggs Jr,] Forbes.com, April 30, 2008.</ref>
==Power portfolio==
==Political contributions==
NiSource is one of the largest energy company contributors to both Republican and Democratic candidates for Congress. These contributions total $151,400 to the 110th US Congress (as of the third quarter), the largest of which has been to Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) for $7,500. Rep. Boehner, for his part, has consistently voted with the coal industry on energy, war and climate bills.[http://www.followthecoalmoney.org]
More information on coal industry contributions to Congress can be found at [http://www.followthecoalmoney.org FollowtheCoalMoney.org], a project sponsored by the nonpartisan, nonprofit [http://www.priceofoil.org Oil Change International] and [http://www.appalachianvoices.org Appalachian Voices].
==Existing coal-fired power plants==
! Plant Name !! State !! County !! width="175" | Year(s) Built !! width="75" | Capacity !! width="100" | 2007 CO<sub>2</sub> Emissions !! width="100" | 2006 SO<sub>2</sub> Emissions
|-
! align="left" | [[SchahferGenerating Station|Schahfer]]
| align="center" | IN || align="center" | Jasper || align="center" | 1976, 1979, 1983, 1986 || align="right" | 1943 MW || align="right" | 11,000,000 tons || align="right" | 35,909 tons
|-
! align="left" | [[BaillyGenerating Station|Bailly]]
| align="center" | IN || align="center" | Porter || align="center" | 1962, 1968 || align="right" | 604 MW || align="right" | 3,793,000 tons || align="right" | 3,309 tons
|-
! align="left" | [[Michigan CityGenerating Station|Michigan City]]
| align="center" | IN || align="center" | La Porte || align="center" | 1974 || align="right" | 540 MW || align="right" | 3,139,000 tons || align="right" | 14,841 tons
|-
! align="left" | [[Dean MitchellGenerating Station|Dean Mitchell]]
| align="center" | IN || align="center" | Lake || align="center" | 1959, 1970 || align="right" | 384 MW || align="right" | N/A tons || align="right" | 7,276 tons
|}
In 2006, NiSource's 4 coal-fired power plants emitted at least 17.9 million tons of CO<sub>2</sub> and 61,000 tons of SO<sub>2</sub>.
==Dean Mitchell station to close, pollution controls at three other plants==
On January 13, 2011, the [[Obama administration]] brokered a settlement in which Northern Indiana Public Service Co. will permanently shut down an idled coal-fired power plant in Gary, Indana - the [[Dean Mitchell Generating Station]] - and spend $600 million to install and improve pollution controls at its three other aging electric generators - [[Schahfer Generating Station]] in Wheatfield, [[Bailly Generating Station]] in Chesterton, and the [[Michigan City Generating Station]]. The improvements will reduce [[smog]]- and [[soot]]-forming [[sulfur oxide]] by 46,000 tons a year and curb lung-damaging [[nitrogen oxide]] by 18,000 tons annually, according to the [[U.S. Environmental Protection Agency]]. NIPSCO faced legal troubles for upgrading the power plants to keep them operating while failing to install modern pollution controls required under the [[Clean Air Act]]'s [[New Source Review]] provisions. The plants avoided the toughest provisions of the law for decades, in part because regulators assumed during the 1970s that they wouldn’t be running much longer.<ref name=mh>Michael Hawthorne, [http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chibrknews-deal-would-clear-up-coalplant-01132011,0,4399852.story "Deal would clear up coal-plant pollution"] Chicago tribune, Jan. 13, 2011.</ref>
The settlement is the 17th negotiated by the EPA and the Justice Department since Obama took office, as part of a national campaign to reduce air pollution from the [[oldest existing coal plants]], some of which date back to the 1940s. Most of the cases have involved utilities in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. NIPSCO also will pay a $3.5 million fine and spend another $9.5 million on environmental projects, including soot filters for old diesel engines, cleaner woodstoves and restoration of land next to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.<ref name=mh/>
==Coal waste==
===EPA "high hazard" coal waste dam===
In November 2011, the EPA released a new set of [[coal waste]] data that revealed 181 “significant” hazard dams in 18 states - more than three times the 60 significant-hazard ponds listed in the original database released in 2009. In addition to the increase in the number of significant hazard-rated ponds, eight previously unrated coal ash ponds were found to be high hazard ponds in information released by the EPA earlier in 2011. Because of the switch in ratings after the EPA inspections, the total number of high hazard ponds has stayed roughly the same at a total of 47 ponds nationwide.<ref name=hp>Ken Ward Jr., [http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/2011/10/31/epa-data-reveals-more-dangerous-coal-ash-ponds/ "EPA data reveals more dangerous coal ash ponds"] Coal Tattoo, Oct. 31, 2011.</ref>
According to the National Inventory of Dams (NID) criteria, “high” hazard coal ash ponds are categorized as such because their failure will likely cause loss of human life. Six states that gained high hazard ponds include:<ref name=hp/>
* Indiana: NiSource's [[Schahfer Generating Station]], Wheatfield: 2 high hazard ponds
==Lobbying and tax subsidies==
[[Image:Public Campaign Profit Taxes & Lobbying Corp. Chart.png|right]]
A 2011 analysis by Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, [http://www.ctj.org/corporatetaxdodgers/CorporateTaxDodgersReport.pdf "Corporate Taxpayers & Corporate Tax Dodgers: 2008-10"] found dozens of companies, including fossil fuels, used tax breaks and various tax dodging methods to have a negative tax balance between 2008 and 2010, while making billions in profits. The study found 32 companies in the fossil-fuel industry -- such as [[Peabody Energy]], [[ConEd]], and [[PG&E]] -- transformed a tax responsibility of $17.3 billion on $49.4 billion in pretax profits into a tax benefit of $6.5 billion, for a net gain of $24 billion.<ref>Brad Johnson, [http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/11/07/363018/corporate-welfare-for-energy-companies-means-we-paid-24-billion-in-taxes-to-them/ "Corporate Welfare For Energy Companies Means We Paid $24 Billion In Taxes To Them,"] Think Progress, Nov. 7, 2011.</ref>
The companies that paid no tax for at least one year between 2008 and 2010 include the utilities [[Ameren]], [[American Electric Power]], [[CenterPoint Energy]], [[CMS Energy]], [[Consolidated Edison]], [[DTE Energy]], [[Duke Energy]], [[Entergy]], [[FirstEnergy]], [[Integrys]], [[NextEra Energy]], [[NiSource]], [[Pepco]], [[PG&E]], [[PPL]], [[Progress Energy]], [[Sempra Energy]], [[Wisconsin Energy]] and [[Xcel Energy]].<ref>Robert S. McIntyre, Matthew Gardner, Rebecca J. Wilkins, Richard Phillips, [http://www.ctj.org/corporatetaxdodgers/CorporateTaxDodgersReport.pdf "Corporate Taxpayers & Corporate Tax Dodgers: 2008-10"] Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, November 2011 Report.</ref>
In December 2011, the organization [[Public Campaign]] published a report called "For Hire: Lobbyists or the 99%?" on corporations that have paid more on lobbying than on federal taxes. NiSource ranked ninth (see chart), reporting nearly $1.4 billion in U.S. profits from 2008 to 2010, and collecting $227 million from the U.S Treasury while spending $1.8 million on lobbying;<ref name="PublicCampaign">Public Campaign, [http://publicampaign.org/sites/default/files/ReportTaxDodgerLobbyingDec6.pdf For Hire: Lobbyists or the 99%? How Corporations Pay More for Lobbyists Than in Taxes], organizational report, December 2011</ref> the company had nearly $712 million in tax subsidies, for a tax rate of -16.4%.<ref>Public Interest Research Group and Citizens for Tax Justice, [http://www.uspirg.org/uploads/e3/90/e39040a4efff6f31951212ef330255e0/USP-RepTax-Report.pdf "Representation Without Taxation: Fortune 500 Companies that Spend Big on Lobbying and Avoid Taxes,"] Public Interest Research Group and Citizens for Tax Justice, January 2012 Report</ref>
==Contact details==
NiSource Inc.<br>
801 East 86th Avenue<br>
Merrillville, IN 46410<br>
Website: http://www.nisource.com/<br>
==Articles and Resources==
===Related SourceWatch Articles===
*[[Robert C. Skaggs Jr.]]
*[[Indiana and coal]]
*[[United States and coal]]
*[[Global warming]]
*[[Coal]]
===External Articles===
