NISOURCE INC.

This Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations ("Management’s Discussion") includes management’s analysis of past financial results and certain potential factors that may affect future results, potential future risks and approaches that may be used to manage those risks. See "Note regarding forward-looking statements" at the beginning of this report for a list of factors that may cause results to differ materially.

Management's Discussion is designed to provide an understanding of our operations and financial performance and should be read in conjunction with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024.

We are an energy holding company under the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 2005 whose utility subsidiaries are fully regulated natural gas and electric utility companies serving customers in six states. We generate substantially all of our operating income through these rate-regulated businesses, which are summarized for financial reporting purposes into two primary reportable segments: Columbia Operations and NIPSCO Operations. Refer to ''Note 16, "Business Segment Information," for further discussion of our business segments.

Our vision is to be a premier, innovative and trusted energy partner. We exist to deliver safe, reliable energy that drives value to our customers. In order to achieve this goal, we seek to develop strategies that benefit all stakeholders as we (i) support long-term infrastructure investment and safety programs to better serve our customers, (ii) align our tariff structures with our cost structure, and (iii) drive value and enable growth in an evolving energy ecosystem. These strategies focus on improving safety and reliability, enhancing customer experience, pursuing regulatory and legislative initiatives to increase accessibility for customers currently not on our gas and electric service, ensuring customer affordability and reducing emissions while generating sustainable returns. The safety of our customers, communities and employees remains our focus. Serving as a guiding practice for our SMS, NiSource is certified in conformance to the American Petroleum Institute Recommended Practice 1173, which is the foundation to our journey towards operational excellence.

Energy Transition: We continue to advance our energy transition strategy, primarily through the continuation and enhancement of existing programs, such as retiring and replacing remaining coal-fired electric generation by 2028 with a balanced mix of low- or zero-emission electric generation, ongoing pipe replacement and modernization programs, and deployment of advanced leak detection and repair. Our electric generation transition, initiated through our 2018 Integrated Resource Plan ("2018 Plan") is well underway, and we are continually adjusting to the dynamic energy landscape. As of March 31, 2025, we have placed in service owned renewable and storage projects, developed under BTAs, with combined nameplate capacities of 1,500 MW and 101 MW respectively. Renewable PPA projects with a combined nameplate capacity of 600 MW have also been placed in service. In addition, renewable BTA projects with combined nameplate capacities of 650 MW, and renewable PPA projects with a combined nameplate capacity of 600 MW were under development as of March 31, 2025, all of which have received IURC approval, with the exception of the Templeton project, which is currently pending approval. The capacity figure for BTA projects in development includes the Templeton project. In October 2024, NIPSCO contracted with a developer to convert the previously approved Templeton PPA to a BTA and in February 2025 filed a CPCN with the IURC. In 2024, the IURC approved full ownership of the Cavalry, Dunns Bridge II, Fairbanks and Gibson and the cost of the Fairbanks project as contemplated in contractual actions. Full ownership of these projects allows NIPSCO to leverage provisions of the IRA, monetize renewable tax credits more effectively, and provide enhanced benefits to customers as compared to the previous tax equity partnership structure approved by the IURC. We remain on track to retire R.M Schahfer's remaining two coal units by the end of 2025. For additional information, see "Results and Discussion of Operations - NIPSCO Operations," in this Management's Discussion, and see item 1A. Risk Factors in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

NIPSCO's 2021 Integrated Resource Plan ("2021 Plan") lays out a timeline to retire the Michigan City Generating Station by the end of 2028. The 2021 Plan calls for the replacement of the retiring units with a diverse portfolio of resources including demand side management resources, incremental solar, stand-alone energy storage and upgrades to existing facilities at the Sugar Creek Generating Station, among other steps. In 2024, Sugar Creek completed an Advanced Gas Path Tech upgrade that enhanced its overall production capabilities. Additionally, the 2021 Plan calls for a new natural gas peaking facility to replace existing vintage gas peaking facilities at the R.M. Schahfer Generating Station to support system reliability and resiliency, and upgrades to the electric transmission system. In October 2024, we received approval for the issuance of a CPCN for an approximately 400 MW natural gas peaking generation facility from the IURC to replace R.M. Schahfer's existing peaking facilities. The planned retirement of the two vintage gas peaking facilities at the R.M. Schahfer Generating Station is also expected to occur by the end of 2028. Final retirement dates for these units, as well as Michigan City, will be subject to MISO approval.

NIPSCO's 2024 Integrated Resource Plan ("2024 Plan") was submitted to the IURC on December 9, 2024. The 2024 Plan maintains the retirement decisions and capacity additions identified in the 2018 and 2021 Integrated Resource Plans and calls for additional generation resources through 2029 to support capacity requirements. The 2024 Plan informs future generation investments required to ensure reliability for NIPSCO’s customers and incorporates factors such as anticipated load growth from data centers and other economic development opportunities, new EPA emissions rules, and evolving MISO resource accreditation rules. Customer interest related to data center development in our northern Indiana service territory has accelerated. We believe data center development can enhance our local tax base, diversify the employment base across the state of Indiana, and provide greater value to existing customers and shareholders. We are evaluating the potential for data center development in our service territory, including ways to effectively manage the potential power demand, generation sources, and transmission capabilities to meet potential load growth from any data center customer, while at the same time focusing on our environmental goals. We expect the management of large load growth would require new generation resources. We plan to move as efficiently as possible while maintaining the integrity of our commercial, planning, regulatory, procurement and operational execution processes.

We continue to enhance safety and reduce methane emissions on our gas systems through modernization programs and utilization of advanced leak detection and repair. In addition, we plan to advance other low- or zero-emission energy resources and technologies, such as hydrogen and renewable natural gas.

Transformation: Our enterprise-wide transformation roadmap focuses on operational excellence, safety, operation and maintenance management, and unlocking efficiencies. We are committed to identifying and implementing initiatives that will enable us to streamline work and improve logistics company-wide. These efforts include investments in proven technologies backed with standardized processes that will change the way we plan, schedule, and execute work in the field and how we engage and provide service to our customers. Taken together, all of our optimization initiatives will prioritize safety and continue to optimize our long-term growth profile. We are making progress towards our transformation goals with a successful completion of the first phase of our WAM program, an enterprise resource planning system that will optimize the scheduling, dispatch, and execution of our field operations. This phase of the program implemented the solution within our electric distribution and transmission operations, while remaining phases for gas distribution operations and generation operations are anticipated to be completed by the end of 2025. In addition to transforming technology to enhance our employee and customer experiences, these programs will also ensure we remain on modern systems that help reduce enterprise risk related to end-of-life systems.

Economic Environment: We continue to monitor risks related to order and delivery lead times for construction and other materials, potential unavailability of materials due to global shortages in raw materials, and decreased construction labor productivity in the event of disruptions in the availability of materials. We continue to see increasing prices associated with certain materials and supplies and are tracking the potential impact of new and proposed tariffs. To the extent that work plan delays occur or our costs increase, our business operations, results of operations, cash flows, and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.

We are faced with increased competition for employee and contractor talent in the current labor market which has resulted in increased costs to attract and retain talent. We are ensuring that we use all internal human capital programs (development, leadership enablement programs, succession, performance management) to promote retention of our current employees along with having a competitive and attractive appeal for potential recruits. Our flexible work arrangements, where possible, support a broader talent footprint for sourcing talent needed and for remaining competitive.

We continue to evaluate our financing plan to manage interest expense and exposure to rates. For more information on interest rate risk, see "Market Risk Disclosures".

Summary of Consolidated Financial Results

A summary of our consolidated financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024 are presented below:

The majority of the costs of energy in both segments are tracked costs that are passed through directly to the customer, resulting in an equal and offsetting amount reflected in operating revenues.

The increase in net income available to common shareholders for the three months ended March 31, 2025 was primarily due to higher revenues driven by our capital investments, partially offset by higher operating expenses, including increased depreciation expense attributed to our net plant balances and higher interest expense. See Note 6, "Equity," in the Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited) for additional information.

For additional information on operating income variance drivers see "Results and Discussion of Segment Operations" for Columbia Operations and NIPSCO Operations in this Management's Discussion.

Income Taxes

Refer to Note 12, "Income Taxes," in the Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited) for information on income taxes and the change in the effective tax rates for the periods presented.

We continue to monitor and evaluate the impacts of final or proposed income tax regulations issued on provisions of the IRA including but not limited to renewable energy tax credits.