AES billing issues linger as company brings back shutoffs

INDIANAPOLIS (MIRROR INDY) — Marc Skaggs has been guessing how much he owes on his electric bill.

Hopefully, it’s somewhere between $150 and $200 each month — because that’s how much he said he’s been sending AES Indiana.

Skaggs, a Camby resident who runs a construction company, said he has to call in and talk to an employee, who then transfers him to the payment system. If he tries going into the system on his own, it says he doesn’t owe anything.

The last time Skaggs, 57, tried to see what’s happening with his bill, the call took a half hour. And he still couldn’t get answers.

“They can’t tell me how much power I use,” he said. “They can’t tell me how much I need to pay.”

That’s why Skaggs wasn’t pleased when he saw that AES is planning to resume shutoffs and late fees in November.

It’s been almost a year since the utility company updated its billing system. Since then, thousands of customers have experienced problems, including not being able to see their bill and having their monthly payment withdrawn multiple times.

In response, AES paused shutoffs and late fees.

Now, those protections are going away.

“I don’t quite understand why they would come out and say that when they don’t even have their system right,” Skaggs said.

But an AES spokeswoman, Claire Rice, told Mirror Indy the company’s billing system is “working how we expect it to.”

“Our system has reached stabilization,” Rice said in a statement, “and we will continue to focus on improving the system, as necessary, to solve issues and to enhance the customer experience and our business operations.”

On the southeast side, though, Kelly Jones is staring at a $650 electric bill and wondering how she’s supposed to pay that. The due date, Sept. 6, has already passed.

Jones, who runs a child care center out of her home, said her bill sprang up unexpectedly to more than $400 in July. She tried making a $200 payment but couldn’t.

“Any time I called, I couldn’t get a human being to explain what was going on,” she said.

Jones, 50, said the AES decision to resume shutoffs and late fees feels like a threat.

“Some of us are out here barely scraping by,” she said, “and then you make it so we can’t pay the bill.”

Jones should have a little more than two months to catch up.

The AES announcement to customers said shutoffs will resume Nov. 1, but the spokeswoman clarified that’s only when the notification process can begin. Customers will get a 21-day notice for disconnections.

Still, that doesn’t give Jones much time to figure out what’s going on with her bill and get it paid.

“I’m a little worried I’ll have to go on some sort of begging spree to my church or my family,” she said.

Mirror Indy reporter Tyler Fenwick covers housing and labor. Contact him at 317-766-1406 or tyler.fenwick@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @ty_fenwick.