By Amanda Durish Cook

NiSource earned $64.4 million ($0.20/share) from continuing operations in the fourth quarter of 2015, below the $79.5 million ($0.25/share) reported for the last three months of 2014. NiSource’s full-year earnings totaled $198.6 million ($0.63/share), compared with $256.2 million ($0.81/share) during 2014.

The company split from Columbia Pipeline Group through a distribution of its stock to its shareholders during the third quarter of 2015.

“Now in our first full year as a pure utility company, we’re deeply committed to leadership in safety and service to our customers and communities as core drivers of sustained and growing value,” CEO Joseph Hamrock told shareholders.

The Merrillville, Ind., company invested a record $1.37 billion in 2015 in its gas and electric utilities in the seven states it serves. NiSource pledged to spend another $1.4 billion on system upgrades in 2016. Hamrock said NiSource replaced 361 miles of pipeline in 2015 and continued or began modernization programs at its subsidiaries in Virginia, Massachusetts and Ohio. The company also installed automated meter reading devices for 4 million customers.

NiSource pointed to successful rate settlements last year in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia, along with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission’s approval of a settlement between , its large industrial customers and the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor over NIPSCO’s seven-year electric infrastructure modernization plan. Under the settlement, NIPSCO had to refund just under $1 million. The company refiled the plan request, asking for $1.33 billion and rate hikes over the next seven years to improve its infrastructure.

In a separate case, NIPSCO is seeking the IURC’s approval to increase monthly residential charge from $11 to $20. NiSource said the increase would “update rates to reflect the current costs of generating and distributing power, plus ongoing investments which are delivering substantial benefits to customers, including programs that have reduced the duration of power outages by 40%.”