Gary Indiana Should Wait On Restored Power: When Violence Meets Welfare Dependency, Priorities Matter

By Hoosier Enquirer Staff

August 22, 2026

Northwest Indiana is still digging out from the catastrophic August 11 storms that left hundreds of thousands without power. NIPSCO crews have worked around the clock under brutal conditions, replacing hundreds of poles, rebuilding transmission towers near I-65 and the Toll Road, and restoring service to more than 330,000 customers. Yet Gary remains near the back of the line, with full restoration not expected until Tuesday.

Some will cry foul. They will call it neglect or discrimination. We call it consequence.

A majority of Gary households rely on Section 8 and other forms of public assistance. Ratepayers across the rest of NIPSCO’s territory—people who work, pay their bills on time, and do not treat utility workers as targets—are subsidizing the restoration. That alone raises a basic fairness question. But the real issue is far more serious.

On August 14, while crews were assessing damage and trying to get the lights back on, a NIPSCO vehicle was shot at in Gary. Workers were forced to pause operations until security could be arranged with local police. No one was injured, but the message was unmistakable: restore our power, or risk getting fired upon.

This is not an isolated expression of frustration. It is a pattern of entitlement mixed with lawlessness that has defined too much of Gary’s recent history. When people who contribute little to the system respond to hardship by attacking the very workers trying to help them, they forfeit the right to demand priority treatment.

NIPSCO has been clear that Gary suffered some of the most complex damage—99 mph winds, hundreds of downed poles, and extensive transmission infrastructure failures. Restoring power there was always going to take longer. The shooting only made the job more dangerous and more expensive. Every extra day of security details and delayed work is paid for by customers who did not shoot at linemen.

We reject the soft bigotry of low expectations that insists every community must receive equal speed of restoration regardless of behavior. Utilities exist to serve paying customers in a safe environment. When a city repeatedly demonstrates that its residents will endanger those workers, decision-makers are entitled—indeed obligated—to factor that risk into their prioritization.

Gary’s leaders and residents face a choice. They can continue the cycle of dependency, excuses, and occasional violence, or they can demand better from their own neighborhoods so that future crises do not leave them sitting in the dark while the rest of the region moves on. Until that changes, the restoration order is not injustice. It is simple accountability.

The lights will eventually come back on in Gary. Whether the city learns anything from the wait is another matter.