MERRILLVILLE, Ind. -- Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) announced Thursday during a meeting with major industrial and commercial customers its plans for major electric system improvements in LaGrange and Steuben counties.

In a meeting with members of the Steuben County Industrial Guild and other invited guests, NIPSCO described system improvements involving upgrades to five electric substations and replacement or new construction of more than 60 miles of 69,000-volt (69kv) electric transmission lines. The work, scheduled to begin the first week of July and completed by June 2001, will represent a $12 million investment in NIPSCO's northeast Indiana transmission system. NIPSCO representatives indicated the improvements will provide for improved system reliability and increased system capacity to meet the current and future electric needs of northeast Indiana customers.

"This is another significant step in our plans to rebuild and improve our transmission system in northeast Indiana to meet the growing electrical needs of our industrial, commercial and residential customers," said Robert Schacht, NIPSCO vice president of Distribution Operations. "We want our customers to know our commitment to building and maintaining an electric system that is both reliable and capable of supplying all their current and future energy needs."

Work to replace and construct new transmission lines will be concentrated in Steuben County. Also beginning in July, a new 69kv transmission line will be built between the Nevada Mills substation and Orland, where it will provide a new interconnect with an existing transmission circuit. Work in LaGrange County is scheduled to begin in November and will involve improvements to existing transmission lines and new construction between NIPSCO's LaGrange and Brighton substations.

NIPSCO ANNOUNCES ELECTRIC SYSTEM IMPROVEMENTS

"Most work will take place in the rights-of-way of county roads and state highways," said Don Tokoly, NIPSCO manager of Engineering. "While this work will require a significant number of construction crews and large amounts of equipment and material, we plan to keep customer inconvenience to a minimum."

"The safety of our customers and employees will be the number one priority during this project. With the additional crews and equipment working on local county roads and state highways, we ask our customers to exercise additional caution when driving through construction areas," said Jim Manhart, NIPSCO Public Affairs representative.

Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO), a subsidiary of NiSource Inc., is a regulated utility that provides natural gas to nearly 700,000 customers and electricity to 416,000 customers across the northern third of Indiana. NIPSCO is the largest natural gas distribution company and the second largest electric distribution company in Indiana. Information about NiSource Inc. and its subsidiaries is available via the Internet at www.nisource.com .