INDIANAPOLIS – The City-County Council is taking a stand against AES Indiana amid the company’s efforts to raise base rates for customers.
The council introduced a resolution shutting down the company’s request to raise base rates by 13.5%.
Emily Singer has been an AES customer for about 15 years now and is already careful enough with her energy usage.
“It’s a little ridiculous. It’s really just me and my husband and dogs, and our bill is close to $300/ month,” she said.
She addressed the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, which is considering the request, at one of its several public field hearings over the last month.
“Your bill goes up $20-30 and that is food for the week, and you have to choose, am I going to be able to turn on my lights or am I going to feed myself?” said Singer.
In a statement, AES argues it needs this increase for future investments to build a reliable and resilient electric system for more than 530,000 customers.
Alongside Singer, dozens of others spoke out opposing the increase, including state representatives, senators and city-county councilors.
“I’ve gotten dozens, if not hundreds, of emails and phone calls from residents just really, really disturbed by a lot about what AES is doing,” said Councilor Jesse Brown of District 13.
Now, the council is taking it a step further. Councilors Michael-Paul Hart and Joshua Bain introduced a resolution to urge the utility company to withdraw the request.
“We just want their rate of return to be reasonable and not, you know, extortionary,” said Brown. “We just don’t think that the rates need to be raised in order to secure our electric grid and let them maintain a healthy profit.”
If the request isn’t withdrawn, the councilors would like to see it rejected. However, the council is unsure how much weight their statement will hold when it comes to the IURC’s decision.
“I feel like it’s all of us. So I feel like they’re going to be hearing it from all over,” said Councilor Kristin Jones of District 18. “I hope that they listen.”
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