Concerns raised over AES response to widespread power outages in June

Groups call for formal investigation on AES Indiana

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Dayslong power outages from this summer are getting a closer look by Indiana regulators.

They’re focusing heavily on AES Indiana, questioning some of its decisions.

A powerful storm in June caused more than 81,000 AES customers to lose power for several days, but it’s how the company responded that has raised some major concerns.

The Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor and the Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana want the state’s utility regulatory commission to open a formal investigation on AES Indiana.

They say a June 29 storm knocked out power to thousands of customers, but AES Indiana says they did not fully restore power until the evening of July 4.

On Monday, they answered questions about their actions in front of the commission.

“This is a great opportunity for us to not only review our own policies and procedures, but also to be able to inform the IURC of what we did, what we did right, and where we can also learn from lessons learned,” said Kelly Young, the public relations director of AES.

Ben Inskeep, the program director of the Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana, said, “Only a few opportunities for some brief questions have been allowed, so we’d really like to have a more in-depth investigation.”

Inskeep added, “We’ve called for the commission to open a formal case where we can ask questions formally of AES, we can get the full record in front of the commission, and they can make sure that there’s appropriate recourse for instance, should customers be compensated who were without power for multiple days? We think that should be on the table.”

AES was formerly known as Indianapolis Power & Light. It faced a similar investigation following a storm in July 2001.

Tens of thousands of Indianapolis customers were also without power for days. After seeing this happen again, the company was asked to explain.

“Some of our concerns are — Did AES Indiana consider the needs of their medically vulnerable customers? There are many customers that rely on power to meet their basic health and safety needs,” Inskeep said.

He said, “They’re getting a lot of money from customers, but are they delivering on that safe and reliable service that customers need? That’s up in the air right now.”

Young said, “We hear them. We know it was a frustrating time when they were out of power during the storms, but we also want them to know that we’re being open, honest, and transparent throughout this whole process, and we’re learning as well, too.”

AES also said their preparations were reasonable and were guided by their policies and procedures.