AES Indiana's BlackRock Buyout Rate Case Heads to a March Rehearing

Daniel BurkePublished every day

AES Corporation, parent of AES Indiana, has agreed to a $33.4 billion sale to a consortium led by BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners and Sweden's EQT Infrastructure, with CalPERS holding a 20 percent stake and the Qatar Investment Authority holding 10 percent. The deal is expected to close in late 2026 or early 2027. Separately, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission approved a $71 million AES Indiana rate increase in June and agreed in September to reconsider it, specifically examining how the BlackRock acquisition and a 390 megawatt Google data center project in Morgan County factor into the utility's costs and returns. A hearing is set for March 11, 2027. GIP's documented target return of 15 to 20 percent runs roughly double the historical median for regulated utilities, and the Citizens Action Coalition alleges AES signed its Google data center agreements while the original rate case record was still open. Customers could pay the full increase for months before the rehearing decides whether any of it gets refunded.

Impact

The arithmetic tension is specific: GIP's documented target return is 15-20%, roughly double the ~10% historical median for regulated utilities, and the Citizens Action Coalition alleges AES signed its Google data-center agreements while the original rate case evidentiary record was still open, a potential material-withholding issue, not just a procedural one. Customers could begin paying the full $71 million increase before the March 2027 rehearing concludes, meaning industrial ratepayers front costs regulators may later order partially refunded, while FERC's pending review of the deal will set a national template for how infrastructure funds pair hyperscaler anchor tenants with utility ownership.

Watch

The IURC's March 11, 2027 rehearing on the rate case, and FERC's ruling on the BlackRock-EQT ownership structure, which Public Citizen and the Citizens Action Coalition have formally challenged.

For the huddle

If AES Indiana's rate base expands to serve Google's 390 MW Morgan County data center, how exposed is our facility to industrial rate increases tied to that buildout before the rehearing resolves who actually pays for it?

Yes. The IURC already approved the increase and billing continues while the BlackRock acquisition and Google data center costs are reviewed, so any refund ordered at the March 2027 hearing would arrive after months of higher bills, not before.

Sources

BlackRock, Swedish Investment Giant and Qatar Fund Set to Control Indianapolis Electric Utility in $33.4 Billion Deal · hoosierenquirer.com

Earlier coverage

From the brief, October 28, 2026

Samsung SDI's New Carlisle Takeover Reopens St. Joseph County's Incentive Deal
Indiana's $10.79 Million ADAPT Grant Opens for Auto Suppliers, Behind Michigan's Head Start
AES Indiana's BlackRock Buyout Rate Case Heads to a March Rehearing
Indiana Unemployment Ticks to 3.4% as Manufacturing Adds 3,500 Jobs
Patrick Industries Reaffirms LCI Merger Against Monomoy's $101-a-Share Bid

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