The Indiana Supreme Court heard oral arguments on May 21 in NIPSCO's $1.64 billion TDSIC cost recovery case — and whatever standard the court sets will govern how NIPSCO, and potentially all four other investor-owned utilities in Indiana, can recover infrastructure cost increases from C&I customers. Today's brief covers that ruling, a $3.8 billion chip plant construction timeline at risk in West Lafayette, and a closing rebate window at AES Indiana with a hard deadline tied to a parent company ownership change.

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NIPSCO's $1.64B TDSIC Overrun: What the Supreme Court Decision Means for Your Bills

On May 21, the Indiana Supreme Court heard arguments in IURC case 45557 — NIPSCO's appeal over whether inflation-driven overruns on its $1.64 billion electric infrastructure plan can be recovered through the TDSIC tracker rather than a base rate case. The NIPSCO Industrial Group, a coalition of six major industrial customers including US Steel, argued that routing costs through the tracker bypasses the prudence review that protects customers from spending that isn't cost-justified. NIPSCO countered that transformer and breaker costs surged more than 150% and that a standard 70-foot wood pole went from roughly $3,000 in 2019 to more than $5,600 in 2024.

What the coverage is missing: NIPSCO's TDSIC 6 billing period covering April through September 2025 is already collecting costs while the court deliberates. A separate $741 million gas TDSIC plan is pending with OUCC testimony already filed. AES Indiana, CenterPoint, Duke, and Indiana Michigan Power are all watching — they operate under the same statute, so whatever standard the court sets applies across the board.

SK Hynix's $3.8B West Lafayette Chip Plant: Construction Exposure Your Contractors Need to Know

SK Hynix's $3.8 billion high-bandwidth memory facility in West Lafayette is being fast-tracked, with above-ground construction targeted for later in 2026 and mass production slated for the second half of 2028. A resident petition filed in late 2025 — centered on the Purdue Research Foundation's role in structuring the land deal outside standard municipal transparency requirements — is still in hearing in Tippecanoe County Court.

SK Hynix holds roughly 62% of the global HBM market and is a primary supplier to Nvidia. This facility is the US production anchor for that relationship. If the resident petition delays construction materially, the 2028 production ramp slips. On the contractor side, the CHIPS Act award requires either a project labor agreement or 15% registered apprenticeship utilization. This is the largest single development project in Indiana history — if your contractors aren't tracking those compliance requirements, they're already behind. Water demand alone, nearly 4 million gallons per day, will require Indiana American Water to file for source capacity expansion, and that cost recovery will hit the broader customer class across the greater Lafayette region.

AES Indiana's $1M DSM Rebates and the June 24 Deadline

AES Indiana has filed a new three-year demand-side management plan with the IURC targeting 118 megawatts of demand response and efficiency additions by 2028. For C&I customers above 1 MW of demand, rebates go up to $1 million per qualifying project. Here's the context most coverage is missing: AES Corp, the Virginia-based parent, has disclosed a going-private transaction in an SEC filing. The IURC, OUCC, and Citizens Action Coalition are all monitoring whether that ownership change affects AES's ability to backstop DSM program costs. That's precisely why AES Indiana appears to be locking in a three-year DSM approval under the current ownership structure before a change of control reshuffles the regulatory board.

This lands directly on top of AES Indiana's pending rate case, cause 46258, where the IURC's final order deadline is June 24, 2026. The two-phase increase AES Indiana is seeking — roughly 7.5% in Q2 and approximately 6% in January 2027 — resets the all-in cost environment for every C&I customer on the system. The window on the currently approved 2025–2026 DSM plan is open right now. That window and the rate case order are converging on the same calendar.

Questions for Your Morning Huddle

Q: What's my actual TDSIC exposure across electric and gas if the Supreme Court sides with NIPSCO? A: Pull your bills and identify all TDSIC tracker line items on both electric and gas service. NIPSCO's TDSIC 6 billing period is already collecting for April through September 2025, and a separate $741 million gas TDSIC plan is pending — whatever standard the court sets governs both.

Q: Does the SK Hynix West Lafayette project create labor or supply chain risk for my contractors? A: If your firm or your contractors work in the construction trades in the Lafayette region, confirm compliance with CHIPS Act requirements now — either a project labor agreement or 15% registered apprenticeship utilization is required on this project. Construction mobilizing in 2026 on the largest single development project in Indiana history will tighten regional labor supply and drive water infrastructure rate additions across the greater Lafayette area.

Q: How do I lock in AES Indiana DSM rebates before the ownership transaction creates uncertainty? A: Pull the list of efficiency projects qualifying under AES Indiana's currently approved 2025–2026 DSM plan now. If you're above 1 MW of demand, you can seek intervener status in rate case cause 46258 or file comments with the IURC before the June 24 deadline — those are concrete levers available to you right now.

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