NiSource
Utilities
46
out of 100. Number 253 of 512, counting from the worst.
Where NiSource does well
- Renewals 0 of 20. Nothing found.
- Material changes to both the Terms of Use and the Privacy Notice are posted 30 days before taking effect — an actual waiting period, better than 'effective immediately' terms.
- When disclosing personal data, NiSource says it strives to enter contracts requiring recipients to keep the information confidential and use it only as permitted.
- The Privacy Notice states the company does not use texts/SMS messaging to send marketing messages.
- The forced-arbitration clause applies only to disputes arising from website use, not to regulated utility service itself, whose rates and service terms are overseen by state utility commissions.
Just by using the website, you give up your right to sue NiSource in court or join a class action.
The fine print
6 clauses and findings from the draft archive, dated 1 October 2026. The plain English comes first; the small print is the company's own words. None of these has been checked yet.
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Just by using the website, you give up your right to sue NiSource in court or join a class action. Any dispute — even about a third-party site you clicked through to from nisource.com — must go to private, individual arbitration. There is no opt-out.
YOU AGREE THAT YOU WILL SUBMIT ANY DISPUTE INVOLVING NISOURCE OR ANY OF ITS AFFILIATES ARISING OUT OF, OR CONNECTED TO, YOUR USE OF THIS WEBSITE OR ANY HYPERLINKED WEBSITE EXCLUSIVELY TO BINDING INDIVIDUAL (NON-CLASS) ARBITRATION TO BE ADMINISTERED BY THE AMERICAN ARBITRATION ASSOCIATION (“AAA”).
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Anything you submit through the site — a message, document, idea, suggestion — is legally not confidential, and NiSource gets a permanent, unlimited, irrevocable right to use, change, and distribute it, plus free use of any ideas or know-how you send.
Please note that any information or material sent to NiSource will be deemed NOT to be confidential... By sending NiSource any information or material, you grant NiSource an unrestricted, irrevocable license to use, reproduce, display, perform, modify, transmit and distribute those materials or information, and you also agree that NiSource is free to use any ideas, concepts, know-how or techniques that you send us for any purpose.
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If the site harms you — loses your data, breaks something, interrupts your business — NiSource disclaims liability for all damages, direct or indirect, even if they knew the harm was possible.
TO THE EXTENT ALLOWED BY LAW, WITH RESPECT TO YOUR USE OF THIS WEBSITE OR ANY HYPERLINKED WEBSITE, IN NO EVENT WILL NISOURCE OR ANY OF ITS AFFILIATES BE LIABLE TO ANY PARTY FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY LOST PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF PROGRAMS OR OTHER DATA ON YOUR INFORMATION HANDLING SYSTEM OR OTHERWISE EVEN IF WE ARE EXPRESSLY ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
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Your personal data is shared with digital ad networks and cookie/pixel trackers to measure and optimize ads across your devices. Accepting non-essential cookies means consenting to this recording and disclosure to third-party cookie companies.
Third-party cookie and other tracking technology providers, such as digital ad networks and cookie/tag/pixel providers, to measure and optimize ad performance across devices and to provide analytics and advertising services to us... By allowing NON-ESSENTIAL cookies and RELATED TECHNOLOGIES, you hereby consent to our recording and disclosure to third-party cookie providers of your use of the Website.
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NiSource can rewrite its privacy policy whenever it wants. The only protection is that changes are posted 30 days before taking effect — there is no promise of direct notice, and your continued use counts as consent. (The Terms of Use has an identical unilateral-change clause.)
The Company may modify this Privacy Notice at any time. When we make changes to this Privacy Notice, we will post the updated Privacy Notice for thirty (30) days before becoming effective.
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Handing over your phone number — e.g., to set up an account or report an outage — doubles as consent to robocalls: autodialed calls, texts, artificial or pre-recorded voice messages. You can revoke it, but note “you may not opt-out of receiving certain emergency communications.”
By voluntarily submitting a telephone number to us you agree that a representative of the Company can contact you at the number(s) you provide, potentially using autodialers or other automated technology (including texts/SMS messaging) or an artificial voice and/or pre-recorded messages.
How these were found
Documents read directly from nisource.com on 2026-10-01: Terms of Use (Version: February 16, 2026) and Privacy Notice (Version: March 9, 2026). No mirror used. Not reviewed: the separate paperless-billing terms of use, HR/careers versions of these documents, or the individual state utility tariffs/service agreements that govern gas/electric service and rates. The arbitration clause applies to disputes arising from use of the website, not to regulated utility service itself. Scores are kept modest: this is a regulated utility whose website terms are thin, and several clauses are at least disclosed plainly rather than buried.
These notes come from the original draft and are not independent verification.