Manufacturing News
October 1, 2026
October 1, 2026 · Statewide · Story 3 of 4
AES Indiana Ownership Fight Reaches FERC With a Rate Case Still Pending
Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Indiana Reps. André Carson and Victoria Spartz are now urging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reject the $33.4 billion BlackRock-led takeover of AES. Ohio regulators approved their portion of the deal on September 24, which leaves FERC as the major remaining approval. FERC does not set your electric rate, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission does. The open question is whether new owners carrying $33.4 billion in deal financing push harder for a higher rate in AES Indiana's next rate case. AES Indiana's $71 million rate increase is still under rehearing. If FERC approves the deal, watch for hold-harmless or rate-protection conditions attached to that approval.
- Impact
- The legal fight centers on a 2010 FERC blanket authorization that let BlackRock acquire up to 20% of utility voting securities with minimal review: watchdogs argue it's being stretched to cover a full controlling takeover, and FERC Commissioner Mark Christie has already flagged that scrutiny is warranted when a company sits on 'both sides of the fence' as both passive utility shareholder and active controlling owner. That fight is unfolding while AES Indiana's own $71 million rate increase remains under rehearing after Gov. Braun replaced the IURC chairman over the vote, meaning Central Indiana's 530,000-plus AES Indiana customers face regulatory uncertainty from two directions at once.
- Watch
- FERC's ruling under Docket EC26-99, and specifically whether it orders a full evidentiary hearing rather than a straight approval or denial given the blanket-authorization conflict argument.
- For the huddle
What does the BlackRock takeover of AES mean for AES Indiana's electric rates?
FERC approval would not set your rate directly, the IURC does that, but a $33.4 billion debt load behind the new ownership raises the question of whether AES Indiana pushes harder for rate increases in its next case, which is relevant now because its $71 million rate increase is still under rehearing.
From the brief, October 1, 2026
- Nucor Vulcraft Steel Grating Expansion Points to Margin Pressure, Not New Demand
- Duke Energy Indiana Adds Three Sites, One Already Has a Likely Tenant
- AES Indiana Ownership Fight Reaches FERC With a Rate Case Still Pending
- Indiana, Ohio Named NSF 'Regional Innovation Engine' Manufacturing Award Winners
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