CenterPoint Energy fined nearly $2 million for federal, Indiana pipeline violations

EVANSVILLE — CenterPoint Energy Indiana has agreed to pay a penalty of nearly $2 million to the state of Indiana for violations of federal pipeline law.

The utility will pay $1,997,500 to the state's general fund, none of which can be recovered through customer rates, according to an Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission report issued last week. CenterPoint also waived its right to a public hearing in the process.

IURC Commissioner Wesley Bennett wrote that though CenterPoint was moving to a new records system during the time of the audit, that is not a reason to not have controls in place.

Violations were on a downward trend from 2018-2022, Bennett stated, but since 2021-2023 there has been a "dramatic rise."

"This trend must stop. If CEI wants to instill confidence and collaboration with all interested stakeholders, they will takea more proactive and aggressive approach to pipeline safety," Bennett stated. "The results will be evident by thecurrent and future actions taken by CEI to improve their outcomes."

In a statement from spokesperson Noah Stubbs, CenterPoint acknowledged the settlement and consent decree from the IURC, and noted it would not impact customer bills.

"It is important to note that the instances identified in the settlement and consent decree did not result in any injuries or any infrastructure damage," Stubbs stated. "CenterPoint is committed to implementing the agreed-upon corrective actions to enhance safety and operational integrity of our natural gas system. We remain dedicated to meeting all regulatory standards and continuing to provide safe and reliable natural gas service to our customers."

Here's what the agreement requires

CenterPoint will pay the nearly $2 million penalty for its probable violations of federal and state pipeline safety standards under the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968, the Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Act of 1979 and Indiana Code 8-1-22.5

According to the IURC order, this breaks down to payment for 23 of the violations from eight different inspections. The utility first received notice of that fine Nov. 1, 2023.

The IURC is also authorized to add penalties for violations up to $25,000 each for each day that a violation continues up to $1 million for a series of related violations.

The pipeline division and CenterPoint met to discuss the violations and the proposed civil penalty, on Dec. 18, 2023, Feb. 22, 2024, March 13, 2024, April 18, 2024, April 30, 2024, May 2, 2024 and May 21, 2024.

What does CenterPoint have to do for compliance?

CenterPoint must make all operator qualifications available to field personnel. This also includes providing records of the qualifications for both contractors and employees available to the pipeline division upon request.

The utility will also update a list of its field supervisors within 30 days after each calendar quarter closes for the next three years. After three years, CenterPoint will continue to maintain the list of field supervisors and will provide it to the state as requested.

Compliance reports will be given to the state within 30 days after each calendar quarter ends for a period of three years. This will be reassessed after three years. These reports will be required:

• Compliance work due in the calendar year.
• Compliance work completed in the preceding quarter.
• Compliance work completed year to date.
• Compliance work orders completed on time in the preceding quarter and year to date.
• Compliance work orders completed late in the preceding quarter and year to date.
• Details for each late compliance work order completion.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: CenterPoint Energy fined nearly $2 million for federal, Indiana pipeline violations