June 17, 2026 · Hendricks · Marion · Allen · Elkhart · AES INDIANA

AES Indiana Rate Increase, USMCA Deadline, and Boston Scientific: Indiana Manufacturers Face Three Deadlines in 35 Days

AES Indiana's June 24 rate increase ruling stacks on two live FAC surcharges as USMCA's July 1 deadline closes in. What Indiana manufacturers must do before both land

Daniel BurkePublished every day

Three regulatory deadlines are landing inside 35 days for Indiana manufacturers: the AES Indiana rate increase ruling on June 24, the USMCA renegotiation deadline on July 1, and Steel Dynamics Q2 earnings on July 20, and the cost inputs behind all three are moving against you simultaneously. If your margin assumptions for the second half of 2026 were built before April, they may already be wrong. Here's what's happening and what to do before each deadline closes.

01Statewide

AES Indiana's Rate Increase Is Stacking Three Cost Layers Simultaneously

The IURC approved a $9.52 per month Fuel Adjustment Clause surcharge on May 27 to recover Winter Storm Fern costs. AES filed a second FAC request on June 12, an additional $8.04 per month, targeted for September through November 2026, with an August hearing expected.

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02Statewide

USMCA's July 1 Deadline Hits Elkhart Where It's Already Bleeding

Thor Industries reported a 470-basis-point gross margin compression and a 25 percent drop in North American shipments, and that was before Commerce eliminated the Section 232 product exclusion request process. The primary administrative channel for component-level tariff relief is gone.

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03Hendricks

Boston Scientific's Plainfield Hub Creates a Labor Market Deadline for Hendricks County Employers

Boston Scientific confirmed a 500,000-square-foot global distribution and light manufacturing facility at Plainfield Innovation Park, $138 million investment, up to 300 jobs, groundbreaking expected later in 2026. The proximity to the Spencer, Indiana campus (roughly 40 miles) is a compliance asset for FDA serialization and traceability requirements on Class II and III devices.

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Questions for Your Morning Huddle

Q: How much are AES Indiana's stacked rate increases adding to my electricity costs right now?
A: AES Indiana is currently collecting a $9.52 per month Fuel Adjustment Clause surcharge approved in May, with a second FAC request for $8.04 per month pending for fall 2026. The IURC rules on AES's $193 million base rate increase on June 24, that ruling sets the rate structure your accounts will operate under for the next several years, so quantify your kilowatt-hour exposure against all three layers before it lands.

Q: What should Indiana manufacturers do before the USMCA July 1 deadline?
A: Identify every component that previously carried Section 232 product exclusion protection, Commerce has closed that request process and those exclusions are not recoverable through the same channel. Price the full tariff cost into your H2 assumptions and review FTZ, drawback, and Chapter 98 options with trade counsel before July 1.

Q: What does the Nvidia-Coherent groundbreaking in Texas mean for Indiana specialty suppliers?
A: Nvidia used equity stakes and purchase commitments to lock up TSMC's advanced-packaging capacity during the H100 cycle, and it's running the same model now with Coherent to secure indium phosphide supply before co-packaged optics demand scales. Indiana specialty suppliers that could participate in a similar structure with an AI hyperscaler or large OEM should initiate that conversation now, before open-market sourcing becomes the only option available.

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