Indiana Gov. Mike Braun is directing his office to investigate electric utility NIPSCO following power outages that began with severe storms that struck August 11 and have continued to affect northwest Indiana.

According to a release from the governor's office, a complaint is now filed with the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor (OUCC), and the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) is petitioned to investigate NIPSCO.

Specifically, the governor wants the state consumer advocates to look at NIPSCO’s vegetation management, right-of-way maintenance and use of ratepayer funds.

“NIPSCO is a monopoly utility that Hoosiers pay every month with the expectation that it will use its considerable resources to maintain its system, prepare for severe weather and restore service as quickly as possible when disaster strikes. NIPSCO has failed to keep its end of the bargain," said Gov. Braun in a statement. "I’m directing the OUCC to file a complaint and petition the IURC to launch an investigation so we can determine whether NIPSCO did what it promised ratepayers and regulators it would do with the money it was given. Hoosiers deserve accountability.”

According to NIPSCO, there were about 10,180 customers still without power as of August 24, and about 364,400 customers with their power already restored since the beginning of the event.

“We have engaged additional contractor crews throughout our service territory and continue to bring in support from neighboring utilities and mutual assistance partners from across the country,” according to the NIPSCO website. “Our teams are assigned to outages large and small, and we remain committed to reaching every affected customer in all of our communities. No outage is being overlooked, and no customer will be left behind as we continue this restoration effort.”

NIPSCO said in an update that while substantial progress has been made in restoring service, the utility may continue to encounter circumstances that temporarily increase numbers of outages.

“We know that this storm caused unprecedented and widespread damage across our electric system, resulting in extensive outages, broken poles, downed wires, damaged equipment and thousands of individual repairs that must be completed before service can be fully restored,” according to NIPSCO.