AES Indiana cancels first Indianapolis community open house due to threats

This story has been updated with responses from AES Indiana and IMPD.

AES Indiana cancelled the first of three planned community open houses in Indianapolis Tuesday evening due to threats, it said in an email.

“AES Indiana unfortunately must reschedule tonight’s open house due to threats,” it read. “The safety of our people, community partners, and customers in attendance is our number one priority. Thank you for your understanding.”

As of 10:00 a.m. Wednesday morning, the company said it was still evaluating plans for the other two open houses scheduled for next week and rescheduling last night's event.

"We received numerous severe, violent threats across social media,” said Mallory Duncan, a spokesperson for AES Indiana. She said the company has an internal safety and security team. The timing of the email was related to the timing of the threats.

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department did not have additional information as of Wednesday morning.

“We will refer you to AES for comment. – Our office is unaware of any threats at this time,” said IMPD spokesman Tommy Thompson.

Electric utility costs have recently come under scrutiny across Indiana as they rise. The body that regulates Indiana’s utilities recently announced it would investigate the state’s five investor-owned utilities after pressure from state lawmakers who had received complaints from constituents.

And, Monday, the Indianapolis utility’s parent company, AES, announced it agreed to be purchased by a subsidiary of BlackRock, a group of large domestic and foreign investors.

AES Indiana created the scheduled event Tuesday at the OrthoIndy Foundation YMCA to give customers an opportunity to connect directly with their staff.

“These events are an opportunity to ask questions, get help understanding your bill, learn about programs that may help you save, and hear about our plans to keep electric service reliable and affordable,” it said.

The email did not say when or where the event would be rescheduled.

The remaining meetings on the schedule include:

• Tuesday, March 10 from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m at the Frederick Douglass Family Center
• Wednesday, March 11 from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m at the Decatur Township School for Excellence

Registration is not required and the events are free to attend.

Contact WFYI data journalist Zak Cassel at zcassel@wfyi.org