The state’s utility consumer watchdog will file a request asking Indiana regulators to reconsider a $71 million rate increase for AES Indiana, after Gov. Mike Braun said the commissioners' approval is “unacceptable.” Braun called on the watchdog to file the challenge.
State law gives anyone involved in a utility rate case 20 days after a final decision to ask the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, or IURC, to take another look. That request is called a petition for rehearing and reconsideration. The commission issued an order in the AES case on June 17. The petition deadline is July 7.
The Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, or OUCC, the state agency that advocates for ratepayers, is one of the groups allowed to argue its opinion in the case. The office said it recommended denying AES Indiana’s rate request and instead to order a rate reduction.
“Our priority is affordability, and we presented a lot of evidence about affordability in that case. We also presented a lot of evidence on billing issues and a number of other concerns that we had,” said Olivia Rivera, a spokesperson for the OUCC. “Our office is pursuing a petition for reconsideration and rehearing that starts with a very extensive technical and legal review of the order.”
AES and the OUCC are not the only groups formally involved in the case. Six other other parties are also part of it, including several companies and the City of Indianapolis.
The Citizens Action Coalition, a consumer advocacy group, is also a party and opposed the rate increase. Jennifer Washburn, the group’s regulatory director and attorney, told WFYI that they may join in support of the OUCC’s petition and are still considering their options.
Attorneys for other parties to the case — including Kroger, Walmart, Rolls-Royce and the City of Indianapolis — could not be reached by publication.
AES Indiana said the rate increase was necessary. In September 2025, company President Brandi Davis-Handy testified to regulators that the request was “driven by the increasing cost of providing service. This filing will adjust rates to reflect recent investments made by the Company to serve customers.” She pointed to investments the commission had already approved, including transmission and distribution costs and repowering units at its Petersburg plant.
In a statement after the approval, AES Indiana said the decision balanced a “need for continued investment in the electric system” with customer affordability, and pointed to a settlement it reached with some of the parties last fall.
How we got here
A petition would be the next step in the fallout from the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission’s 3-1 decision last month. Braun immediately criticized the ruling in a joint statement with Utility Consumer Counselor Abby Gray. Braun also demoted commission head Andy Zay and appointed commissioner Anthony Swinger as its new chairman. Commissioner David Veleta, who voted for the rate increase, submitted his resignation.
If a petition is filed, it would set off a legal process with its own timeline. Here’s what happens next.
How a rehearing request works
State rules set out factors of a rehearing request: new evidence, an explanation of why that evidence was not available the first time and how it would have changed the outcome.
The evidence also can’t just repeat what’s already been in the record, said Sarah Freeman, a former commissioner from 2016-2025 who is now with the Regulatory Assistance Project.
Once a petition is filed, parties have a short period of time to respond before the commission takes further action.
Freeman said the IURC would then begin reviewing the case before making a decision.
The commission can uphold the final order, correct it, re-open the case for additional evidence, or reverse it.
“We do not know how this iteration of the commission is operating,” Freeman said, “but typical practice under these these situations means accepting the pleadings, reading all of the pleadings, all of the evidence that’s there, looking back at the decision that was made, then deciding which of those four outcomes … the commission will choose to follow.”
Freeman, speaking generally about the IURC procedure, said a party can ask the commission to rehear or reconsider its original decision. And that request can — but does not have to — include new evidence.
What we know and don’t know about what’s next
It’s not yet clear what the OUCC will argue, or what evidence it will include in its filing. Rivera, the office’s spokesperson, told WFYI she could not comment since they are still working on the filing.
Both the OUCC and Citizens Action Coalition filed extensive evidence in the original case, including over 800 consumer complaints from residents who described billing problems, outages, long wait times to resolve cases, threats of disconnection and other issues.
By Sept. 2, 2025 — as part of the original case record — the office had received over 6,800 written comments in the case, according to testimony.
As part of the process for the case, the IURC held public hearings for AES customers in August 2025 to share their thoughts on the proposed rate increase.
Ashley Bishop, who analyzed the complaints for OUCC, told the commission she estimated about 500 customers attended the four field hearings. She said 89 people gave testimony, and everyone who addressed the commission at hearings spoke against the rate increase.
Washburn, with Citizens Action Coalition, said that she wants the commission to consider factors like the deal announced for BlackRock to acquire AES Indiana’s parent company, Google’s proposed data center in Monrovia, and record number of consumer complaints.
“This has been a pretty difficult time for AES ratepayers,” Washburn said. “It’s just been one thing after another, and [we] have heard so many stories through this case about the human impact of these rate increases.”
It’s also unclear if Braun’s shakeup of the commission will change how five members vote. Swinger, the new chairman, abstained from the original vote after his previous work at the OUCC. And although commissioner Veleta submitted his resignation, it is not effective until Aug. 31 or a replacement is found.
“If you look at it as a 3-1 decision, that would require two of the yes votes to switch,” said Freeman, the former commissioner. “There could be compelling new evidence that comes forward, and that’s part of what the rehearing petition allows for, but if they’re only looking at the same record, typically you would expect the same result.”
Rivera, the OUCC spokesperson, said the office is “looking forward” to Swinger’s tenure as IURC chairman after he worked at OUCC for over 25 years.
“I imagine he will continue his abstention — and commissioners, it’s hard to tell how that’s going to change the vote. I think you’re going to have to find an individual to change a heart,” said Washburn.
The approved rate
The new AES rates approved by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission in June would go into effect in two phases, starting July 2026 and January 2027, if the order is not changed. The company has said it will not file another base rate request until 2030 and agreed to delay a transmission, distribution and storage improvement charge filing until at least 2028. Other billing components can change in the meantime.
Contact WFYI data journalist Zak Cassel at zcassel@wfyi.org.
