MERRILLVILLE, Ind., March 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- NiSource Inc. (NYSE: NI) has been designated as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute for the fourth consecutive year. The World's Most Ethical Companies designation recognizes those organizations that have had a material impact on the way business is conducted by fostering a culture of ethics and transparency at every level of the company.

"We are greatly honored to have again been recognized for our team's commitment to ethical leadership, compliance practices and corporate social responsibility," NiSource President and Chief Executive Officer Robert C. Skaggs, Jr. said. "This commitment begins with the nearly 9,000 NiSource employees, who embody our company's Core Values of fairness, honesty, integrity and trust."

NiSource is one of 132 companies recognized by Ethisphere for leadership in promoting ethical business standards as measured by five key categories: ethics and compliance program; corporate citizenship and responsibility; culture of ethics; governance and leadership; and innovation and reputation.

"The World's Most Ethical Companies embrace the correlation between ethical business practice and improved company performance. These companies use ethics as a means to further define their industry leadership and understand that creating an ethical culture and earning the World's Most Ethical Companies recognition involves more than just an outward facing message or a handful of senior executives saying the right thing," said Ethisphere's Chief Executive Officer, Timothy Erblich. "We congratulate everyone at NiSource for this extraordinary achievement."

The NiSource Code of Business Conduct is the foundation of the NiSource Ethics and Compliance Program, and is designed to provide guidance on how to apply the company's Core Values and Principles to maintain high standards of business conduct. NiSource's Code of Business Conduct is available at www.nisource.com/ethics.

More on NiSource's commitment to ethics and compliance, as well as the company's overall sustainability priorities can be found in the 2013 Sustainability Report available at www.nisource.com/sustainability. The 2014 report will be published later this year.

Read about the World's Most Ethical Companies selection methodology and view the complete list of the 2015 World's Most Ethical Companies at http://ethisphere.com/wme. The World's Most Ethical Companies will also be featured in the first quarter 2015 issue of the quarterly magazine Ethisphere.

About NiSource
NiSource Inc. (NYSE: NI), based in Merrillville, Ind., is a Fortune 500 company engaged in natural gas transmission, storage and distribution, as well as electric generation, transmission and distribution. NiSource operating companies deliver energy to 3.8 million customers located within the high-demand energy corridor stretching from the Gulf Coast through the Midwest to New England. Information about NiSource and its subsidiaries is available at www.nisource.com.  NI-F

About Ethisphere Institute:
The Ethisphere® Institute is the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that fuel corporate character, marketplace trust and business success. Ethisphere has deep expertise in measuring and defining core ethics standards using data-driven insights that help companies enhance corporate character. Ethisphere honors superior achievement through its World's Most Ethical Companies® recognition program, provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA) and showcases trends and best practices in ethics with the publication of Ethisphere Magazine and The World's Most Ethical Companies Executive Briefing. Ethisphere is also the leading provider of independent verification of corporate ethics and compliance programs. More information about Ethisphere can be found at: http://ethisphere.com.

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nisource-receives-ethics-award-for-fourth-consecutive-year-300047154.html

SOURCE NiSource Inc.