This regional utility was the descendant of several small enterprises founded during the nineteenth century, including the South Bend Gas Light Co., established in 1868 by the Studebaker brothers, of the famous wagon-making firm. During the first decade of the twentieth century, a series of mergers caused the Hammond Illuminating Co. (founded in 1901) to become the South Shore Gas & Electric Co., which by 1909 would become the Northern Indiana Gas & Electric Co. In 1923, Northern Indiana was purchased by Samuel Insull, who owned utilities all around the Chicago area. In 1926, Insull combined Northern Indiana Gas & Electric with his Calumet Electric Co., forming the Northern Indiana Public Service Co. By the middle of the 1960s, this Hammond-based company grossed nearly $200 million in annual sales and employed over 4,000 people. In 1988, the name of the company was changed to Nipsco Industries Inc. By the 1990s, Nipsco was providing electricity to 400,000 customers in Northern Indiana; it also had about 700,000 gas customers. After several more mergers and acquisitions at the end of the twentieth century, the company operated out of Merrillville, Indiana, and became known as NiSource Inc., with more than $6 billion in annual revenues and 7,500 employees.

This entry is part of the Encyclopedia's Dictionary of Leading Chicago Businesses (1820-2000) that was prepared by Mark R. Wilson, with additional contributions from Stephen R. Porter and Janice L. Reiff.