Natural gas coming back on for 1,300 in Valparaiso, Westville

NIPSCO reported at 10:30 a.m. Sunday that crews worked around the clock to complete significant repairs, including the installation of a new gas main line, to resolve an unplanned natural gas outage that occurred on Saturday afternoon, impacting 1,300 customers in Westville and the eastern outskirts of Valparaiso.

Natural gas has been safely reintroduced to the system and the process of relights for the customers is underway, the utility said.

NIPSCO crews, with additional resource support from NiSource and its contractors, are conducting the relights for customers.

The outage prompted the use of Westville High School as a warming shelter because of the cold weather, which has since been closed. Anyone still in need of warming assistance should contact NIPSCO at 1-800-464-7726 to request support. Anyone experiencing any medical concerns should call 911.

Service technicians go door-to-door carrying company-issued identification to conduct the relights. Customers must be home to let a service technician inside to conduct the relight procedure before natural gas use is allowed back into a home. It is important not to attempt to relight appliances and to wait for service technicians to perform the service.

Customers waiting for a relight should leave the front porch light on if they have one, and move any obstructions in the way to the furnace and gas appliances. Move any pets into a secure area prior to the service technician entering the home.

If residents are not home when service technicians attempt the relight procedure, they will leave a door hanger with call back instructions and a service technician will return as quickly as possible.

NIPSCO set up a claims hotline at 1-800-451-7746 where customers can leave a voicemail message to start a claim. A claims adjuster will return calls the following business day. Claim payments are not guaranteed, but if residents who wish to submit a claim for consideration, they are encouraged to keep receipts and any other documentation for any expenses they are seeking.

For the latest updates, visit NIPSCO.com/gasoutage.