MERRILLVILLE, Ind. --- Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) has historically and consistently purchased reliable natural gas supplies at the lowest possible cost to its customers.

"Our legal obligation requires us to make prudent purchases," said Dan Gavito, vice president, Strategy, Regulatory and Sales. "We take it very seriously, we have historically fulfilled our obligation and will continue to do so."

NIPSCO's purchasing practices are continually open for review by the Office of Utility Consumer Counselor (OUCC). The company looks forward to the opportunity to present evidence at a hearing before the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) on April 15.

NIPSCO's natural gas storage accounting practices have been in place since 1979. These practices are widely accepted and used throughout the natural gas industry by other gas utilities, including some in Indiana.

In addition, NIPSCO will present evidence demonstrating that if the company would have purchased natural gas in the manner suggested by the OUCC, NIPSCO customers would have spent an additional $87 million for natural gas during the last two years.

NIPSCO, with headquarters in Merrillville, Ind., is one of the 10 energy distribution companies of NiSource Inc. (NYSE: NI). With nearly 700,000 natural gas customers and 430,000 electric customers across the northern third of Indiana, NIPSCO is the largest natural gas distribution company, and the second largest electric distribution company, in the state. NiSource distribution companies serve 3.7 million natural gas and electric customers primarily in nine states. More information about NIPSCO is available at www.nipsco.com.