AES Indiana-Google Contract: $1.3B in Infrastructure Costs Stays Off General Rates, For Now

AES Indiana filed under Indiana's HEA 1007 framework a customer-specific contract to serve Google's proposed data center in Monrovia. Google is responsible for 100% of its power consumption and all required infrastructure, substations through transmission, totaling roughly $1.3 billion. The filing includes minimum demand commitments so Google pays for a baseline even if usage runs lower, and exit provisions so AES customers aren't left carrying unused lines and equipment if Google scales back.

AES projects more than $770 million in savings over 15 years for ratepayers because that infrastructure doesn't get folded into general rates. Whether that savings lands for small and mid-sized commercial customers, or gets absorbed elsewhere as costs creep in through future rate cases, only becomes clear when the IURC issues its final order, expected around September 2026. History in this state says commercial tariffs often serve as the shock absorber when costs drift in, regardless of what the affordability press release sounds like. Read the final order when it lands.