AES Indiana Rate Increase Approved 3-1, With a 2029 Collision Ahead

The IURC voted 3-1 to approve $71 million in new AES Indiana base rates, roughly 37% of the $193 million AES originally requested, and below a prior $91 million settlement offer. Commissioners Zay, Veleta, and Ziegner voted yes. Commissioner Bob Deig voted no. Phase one hits July; phase two hits January 2027.

Two risk layers the headline obscures. First: AES Indiana is already over-earning its allowed profit by $19 million on the fuel adjustment clause, meaning the IURC approved an additional $71 million on top of a utility that, by the regulator's own math, is already financially over-performing. Second: OUCC Counselor Abby Gray has a 30-day window from June 17th to appeal to the Indiana Court of Appeals. She called the order "an outrage." If she files, that appeal could shift the residential-versus-industrial cost allocation before 2029, when a new state law requires AES to file a multi-year rate case under the untested HEA 1002 performance-based framework. Know your AES Indiana rate exposure before that case is filed.