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Manufacturing NewsTEG DailyOctober 17, 2026

October 17, 2026 · Lake County · Story 5 of 5

Indiana American Water Finishes $24.5 Million Gary Main Overhaul

Daniel BurkePublished every day

Indiana American Water announced October 6 that it has largely finished a $24.5 million Gary initiative that laid roughly 10,000 feet of new water main, enlarging pipe over 70 years old-previously 16 and 20 inches-to sizes ranging from 24 to 36 inches, while also swapping out more than 100 lead service lines. Rex Construction built the project and DLZ handled design and inspection, with only one last connection still remaining at the Borman Park Water Treatment Plant. The upsized mains feed the Borman Park distribution zone that serves U.S. Steel Gary Works, ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor, and Cleveland-Cliffs Burns Harbor, and U.S. Steel's announced restart of its Gary Tin Mill, which brings back 225 jobs, means process-water and fire-flow demand in that corridor is growing rather than holding steady. The lead service line replacements also carry a cost-recovery angle: under Indiana's Distribution System Improvement Charge rules, lead line costs are excluded from the normal 10% surcharge cap, giving Indiana American a built-in incentive to bundle lead line work into active capital projects like this one.

Impact
The upsized mains feed the Borman Park distribution zone that serves U.S. Steel Gary Works, ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor, and Cleveland-Cliffs Burns Harbor -- and U.S. Steel's announced restart of its Gary Tin Mill (225 jobs) means industrial fire-flow and process-water demand in this corridor is growing, not shrinking, making the capacity bump commercially relevant beyond simple pipe replacement. The lead-line replacements also aren't just a goodwill add-on: under Indiana's Distribution System Improvement Charge rules, lead service line costs are carved out of the normal 10% surcharge cap, giving Indiana American a structural incentive to bundle as many lead-line swaps as possible into active capital projects like this one.
Watch
Whether Indiana American's next rate case folds in costs from its February 2026 acquisition of Community Utilities of Indiana, which expanded the customer base this same Gary transmission main now serves.
For the huddle

With U.S. Steel restarting its Gary Tin Mill and the Borman Park service zone upsizing its mains specifically for flow and fire-protection capacity, have we confirmed our own facility's water and fire-flow needs are reflected in the utility's current planning?

Check with your AES account representative which settlement track covers your rate class, since the industrial group's deal was struck separately from the residential rehearing now scheduled for March, and residential customers are currently carrying more of the disputed increase.

Sources

  1. Indiana American Water Completes $24.5 Million Water Main Infrastructure Project in Northwest Indiana · prnewswire.com

Earlier coverage

From the brief, October 17, 2026

  1. AES Indiana Rate Hike Rehearing Set for Early March
  2. IURC Approves AES-Google $737 Million Monrovia Data Center Plan
  3. Winnebago Cuts 51 More Jobs in Forest City as Middlebury Consolidation Lands in Indiana
  4. EPA Rolls Back Power Plant Rules While NIPSCO and CenterPoint Keep Coal Running Past Retirement
  5. Indiana American Water Finishes $24.5 Million Gary Main Overhaul

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