The ongoing power outages in Gary, Indiana, are not due to “racism,” as celebrities and other uninformed commentators would have you believe.
Rather, the power outages, now stretching beyond two weeks, are more likely due to poor utility decisions and the predictable effects of a land-based hurricane hitting Northwest Indiana.
On August 11, a derecho hit Chicago’s south suburbs and Northwest Indiana. Lake County and surrounding areas were hit by tornadoes, 99 MPH winds, and a punishing downpour. Around 95% of customers of the utility company, Northern Indiana Public Service Company, or NIPSCO, lost power on August 11.
Three more brutal storms hit the area within the following days, intensifying and even backtracking progress made on restoring power to more than 300,000 residents. Contractors from other states were brought in to assist with cleanup and power restoration.
An August 14 shooting at a NIPSCO employee also delayed repair work in Gary.
Most of my neighbors and I were without power for 10 days, until Friday, August 21, when a contractor from Florida restored power.
While I was able to work from my parents’ home in an Illinois suburb, my generator and others’ were regularly running to power freezers, refrigerators, and lighting for us and our neighbors. Other friends remained without power for several days after. They lived in majority-white towns like Hobart, which is also near Gary.
Majority white towns like Munster and Schererville were also brutally hit.
But the chattering classes have been quick to cry racism as some in Gary remain without power.
gary indiana has been w/o power for 11 days. gary indiana is 76% Black. yet another example of environmental racism, its so fucking disgusting.
— conny (@BlvckJxsus) August 22, 2026
Here is the truth of what is happening.
Gary, Indiana, is a hollowed-out city that has lost 100,000 residents since 1960. Steel town closures led many residents to leave, including Michael Jackson’s family. This has left around 15,000 abandoned homes in Gary, with many streets blighted with boarded-up homes. I attend Mass 2 miles from Gary and have regularly visited the city because the cathedral for the Diocese of Gary is, of course, there.
That leaves a situation where there are few homeowners getting overgrown trees and vegetation cut back or completely removed. That growth then sits on power lines, waiting to tear them down with each storm.
Context is also needed. One reason Gary had the most power outages is that it is the second-largest city in Lake County. If almost an entire county loses power, it only follows that the largest cities will have the most power outages.
Similarly, utility company NIPSCO faces accusations from Governor Mike Braun and others of not cutting back enough vegetation and upgrading infrastructure. I can attest that the utility company sent around contractors a year ago ostensibly to cut back branches overhanging wires. They surveyed the trees but never returned to my house.
For years, the company has faced accusations of increasing costs without a clear increase in quality. A perusal of the posts in the 37,000-member Facebook group “NIPSCO Monopoly Madness” will tell you everything you need to know.
NIPSCO’s grid is also susceptible to downed power lines, because many of the wires are above ground.
In June, a tornado touched down in Merrillville, which borders Gary. It knocked out trees and windows at the local Catholic high school, Andrean. Our church was without power for Sunday Mass.
Here’s what the power line mess looked like soon after that June storm, from a photo someone sent me.
All this suggests a company that is overwhelmed and behind on technology. My own town, which is mostly white, complained of a lack of resources from NIPSCO.
Leaders from the white-majority town of Griffith, which is also near Gary, made similar complaints. A lack of response from the utility company prompted Griffith and Munster officials to move forward on their own work, with the latter allocating money to hire private contractors to clean up fallen trees.
Race hustlers want to declare “racism.”
That would let NIPSCO off the hook for what is more likely incompetence and poor planning – and all residents would suffer from that lack of accountability.
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