NiSource releases 2022 Integrated Annual Report

President & CEO Lloyd Yates reflects on a year of alignment, growth and transformation

MERRILLVILLE, Ind., April 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- NiSource Inc. (NYSE: NI) has released its 2022 Integrated Annual Report, focused on its vision and commitment to serving employees, customers, and communities as a trusted and reliable energy partner.

"Every day, we come to work to serve others. Our commitment to serving our employees, customers and communities as a trusted and reliable energy partner remains unwavering," said Lloyd Yates, president, and chief executive officer. "We look forward to continued success as a trusted and premier utility company."

As NiSource continues a path forward, it is focusing on six core aspirational commitments that frame the work it does across the enterprise. Those aspirational commitments include operational excellence, safety, sustainability, employees, customers, and financial.

Highlights from the 2022 annual report include:

• Leadership completed a comprehensive business review and extended growth plans to achieve continued top-tier financial performance while driving value to each stakeholder and maintaining service that is affordable for customers.
• The company refreshed its vision and mission to deepen its focus on the essentials: striving to be an innovative and trusted energy partner while delivering safe, reliable energy that drives value to its customers.
• NiSource advanced its sustainability plan by announcing a net zero goal which places it among the industry leaders: reaching net zero Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. Achieving this goal will require supportive regulatory and legislative policies, favorable stakeholder environments and advancement of technologies that are not currently economical to deploy.
• The company was recognized by LRQA, a leading global provider of professional engineering and technology services, for achieving conformance certification in the American Petroleum Institute's Recommended Practice 1173, Safety Management System (SMS).
• As part of NiSource's economic inclusion initiatives, the company is committed to increasing its spend with diverse suppliers and announced a commitment to reaching 25% diverse supplier spend by 2025 to ensure the company's inclusive supply chain reflects the customers they serve.
• Focusing on the customer experience, the company continued to expand self-service tools like chatbot and live chat which empower customers to do business in the channel they prefer and also help to restrain operating expenses.
• Additionally, NiSource received several awards, including being recognized on the Forbes list of Best Employers for Women and being named to the S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook for the first time, recognizing NiSource as one of the world's most sustainable companies.

This report is now publicly available at NiSource.com https://www.nisource.com/company/sustainability/reports-and-policies

About NiSource

NiSource Inc. (NYSE: NI) is one of the largest fully-regulated utility companies in the United States, serving approximately 3.3 million natural gas customers and 500,000 electric customers across six states through its local Columbia Gas and NIPSCO brands. The mission of our approximately 7,200 employees is to deliver safe, reliable energy that drives value to our customers. NiSource is a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability - North America Index and is on Forbes lists of America's Best Employers for Women and Diversity. Learn more about NiSource's record of leadership in sustainability, investments in the communities it serves and how we live our vision to be an innovative and trusted energy partner at www.NiSource.com. NI-F

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"). Investors and prospective investors should understand that many factors govern whether any forward-looking statement contained herein will be or can be realized. Any one of those factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning our plans, strategies, objectives, expected performance, expenditures, recovery of expenditures through rates, stated on either a consolidated or segment basis, and any and all underlying assumptions and other statements that are other than statements of historical fact. Expressions of future goals and expectations and similar expressions, including "may," "will," "should," "could," "would," "aims," "seeks," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "intends," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential," "targets," "forecast," and "continue," reflecting something other than historical fact are intended to identify forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are based on assumptions that management believes to be reasonable; however, there can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially.

Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the projections, forecasts, estimates and expectations discussed in this presentation include, among other things, our ability to execute our business plan or growth strategy, including utility infrastructure investments; potential incidents and other operating risks associated with our business; our ability to adapt to, and manage costs related to, advances in technology; impacts related to our aging infrastructure; our ability to obtain sufficient insurance coverage and whether such coverage will protect us against significant losses; the success of our electric generation strategy; construction risks and natural gas costs and supply risks; fluctuations in demand from residential and commercial customers; fluctuations in the price of energy commodities and related transportation costs or an inability to obtain an adequate, reliable and cost-effective fuel supply to meet customer demands; the attraction and retention of a qualified, diverse workforce and ability to maintain good labor relations; our ability to manage new initiatives and organizational changes; the actions of activist stockholders; the performance of third-party suppliers and service providers; potential cybersecurity attacks; increased requirements and costs related to cybersecurity; any damage to our reputation; any remaining liabilities or impact related to the sale of the Massachusetts Business; the impacts of natural disasters, potential terrorist attacks or other catastrophic events; the physical impacts of climate change and the transition to a lower carbon future; our ability to manage the financial and operational risks related to achieving our carbon emission reduction goals, including our net-zero goal; our debt obligations; any changes to our credit rating or the credit rating of certain of our subsidiaries; any adverse effects related to our equity units; adverse economic and capital market conditions or increases in interest rates; inflation; recessions; economic regulation and the impact of regulatory rate reviews; our ability to obtain expected financial or regulatory outcomes; continuing and potential future impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic; economic conditions in certain industries; the reliability of customers and suppliers to fulfill their payment and contractual obligations; the ability of our subsidiaries to generate cash; pension funding obligations; potential impairments of goodwill; changes in the method for determining LIBOR and the potential replacement of the LIBOR benchmark interest rate; the outcome of legal and regulatory proceedings, investigations, incidents, claims and litigation; compliance with applicable laws, regulations and tariffs; compliance with environmental laws and the costs of associated liabilities; changes in taxation; other matters in the "Risk Factors" section of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, many of which risks are beyond our control. In addition, the relative contributions to profitability by each business segment, and the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements relating thereto, may change over time.

All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements. We undertake no obligation to, and expressly disclaim any such obligation to, update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events or changes to the future results over time or otherwise, except as required by law.

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SOURCE NiSource Inc.